The American Dream Gap: Why More Men Than Women Feel Optimistic In Today’s Economy

The American dream isn’t exclusive to one gender — financial stability and growth should be attainable for everyone. Women have made significant strides in recent years in growing their wealth, increasing their financial literacy and climbing the career ladder, but they’re still struggling with systemic financial inequality. In today’s economy, women in particular feel pessimistic about their ability to succeed.

Only one-fourth (25 percent) of women say they’re likely to be able to achieve their version of the American dream in today’s U.S. economy, compared to 33 percent of men, according to Bankrate’s Financial Freedom Survey. While women feel more pessimistic, men and women roughly agree on what the American dream includes: homeownership; being able to retire; having a successful career; and owning a car, truck or other automobile, according to Bankrate’s Home Affordability Survey.

Although high prices, tariff wars and increasingly unaffordable housing are impacting Americans’ wallets across the country regardless of gender, women today often feel that they’re on shakier financial footing compared to men. Women feel worse about the economy than men do, according to May 2025 data from the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment, and their opinion on the economy has fallen faster since the start of the year than men’s. Additionally, as women continue to experience systemic unequal pay compared to men and as many struggle to carry the burden of child care costs, today’s higher prices are making it more difficult than ever for women to save for the future and achieve their financial dreams.

But just because there are obstacles in the way doesn’t mean the American dream is impossible to achieve for women. By creating realistic goals and rewards, improving your financial literacy and talking about finances, you can gain critical financial confidence that will make it easier to meet all your financial goals.

“The responsibility isn’t on individual women to fix the gender pay gap, but there are steps women can actively take to become more financially confident, even if they’re working with less,” Bankrate Data Reporter and Analyst Alex Gailey says.

Women are likelier than men to face today’s double-whammy of a gender pay gap and higher prices

All Americans are facing higher prices right now. While inflation is lower than it’s been in recent years — 2.4 percent as of May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — the inflation rate has remained stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. But a lower inflation rate doesn’t mean prices have gone down — only that they’re not rising as fast as they once were. Consumer prices are still 23.7 percent more expensive than they were in February 2020. What’s worse, experts say President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs could lead to even higher inflation and affect financial markets.

As women report more pessimism about attaining the American dream, they’re also facing higher prices. A little more than one-third (37 percent) of women said they have had difficulty paying for usual household expenses in the last seven days, compared to 31 percent of men, according to an October 2024 Household Pulse Survey from the BLS. More women than men also thought prices had increased between June 2024 and August 2024 (77 percent of women compared to 71 percent of men).

This has taken a hit to women’s financial health, including their savings. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to say they have no emergency savings (18 percent of men say they have no emergency savings, compared to 30 percent of women), according to Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report. Without emergency savings, more women than men could be at risk of needing to take on debt to pay for unexpected expenses.

Adding to their financial burden, women also tend to pay higher out-of-pocket medical expenses than men do, and women hold two-thirds of the student debt in the U.S.

“Women are, more often than not, standing further back from the starting line when it comes to their earnings and finances in adulthood compared to men,” Gailey says

Higher prices for women might not sting as badly if they were paid equally to men. But unfortunately, the gender pay gap isn’t going away any time soon. Women working full-time, year-round earned 83 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned, according to 2023 Census Bureau data — a gap that’s even larger for women of color. What’s more, full-time working mothers earned 35 percent less in wages than fathers working full time in 2024, a disparity that’s only grown larger since 2022, according to Bankrate’s Motherhood Penalty Survey.

“Women are often expected to adopt the role of a caregiver in the household. This can affect their lifetime earnings if they leave the workforce for an extended period or take on a lower-paying job to better balance work with household responsibilities,” Gailey says.

How women can gain financial confidence amid today’s economic uncertainty

Most women can’t control the systemic issue of the gender pay gap or the economic issue of higher prices; however, they can control their own financial behaviors. Here’s how you can create long-lasting goals that will push you to achieve your version of the American dream — whatever it might be.

1. Set realistic goals

Setting clear, realistic goals is the foundation of any journey towards financial confidence. It’s especially important in today’s challenging economy. If you haven’t set financial goals in a while, you might find that your old goals are unrealistic or outdated today. For example, saving three to six months of expenses for emergencies is a great goal, but today’s high cost of living can make it increasingly difficult to save that much in a short timeframe.

While goals should be realistic, that doesn’t mean you can’t aim high for that promotion, debt payoff or savings target — it just means you should give your goal a reasonable timeframe and set a specific amount. For example, for most people, saving $5,000 in a month isn’t realistic, but saving $500 in a month might be.

Giving your goals a set date and amount will also help you reach them more easily. A goal like “save more money” is vague and open-ended, so there’s no way to know when you’ve achieved it. Framing your goal as “save $1,000 in two months” is more specific and attainable. You should also consider setting both short- and long-term goals, so you have milestones you can reach quickly for added motivation.

Short-term goals could be:

• Cancel a subscription (like a streaming service) this week and replace it with a free service, like your local library
• Open a Roth IRA this month
• Look for a side hustle by next month that allows you to bring in extra income
• Pay off a $1,000 credit card balance in six months
• Save one month of expenses in an emergency savings account by the end of the year

Long-term goals could be:

• Look for a new, higher-paying job in the next year
• Save $20,000 for a down payment on a house in five years
• Pay off your student loans in the next 10 years
• Save one year’s salary in a retirement fund by the time you reach 30 years old

2. Improve your financial literacy

Women tend not to have as strong a financial background as men — 50 percent of men had a strong financial education growing up, compared to only 42 percent of women, according to Bankrate’s Financial Habits Survey.

Increasing your financial literacy can help build confidence in two ways. First, by learning more about finances, you can know you’re not missing out on financial milestones and feel confident about your progress. Second, you may be surprised by how much you already know about personal finance.

It’s also increasingly important today to stay up to date with the latest financial advice and news. Some traditional financial advice, like the 50/30/20 rule, isn’t always realistic in today’s economy, and news about student loans, the job market and federal regulations are changing quickly.

Whether you feel like a pro already or you’re just getting started on your financial journey, it’s a good idea to refresh yourself on basics:

“Women need to have the basics down before they move onto more complex financial skills: Build an emergency fund with three to six months’ worth of expenses in a high-yield savings account, prioritize paying down high-interest debt like credit cards; track the budget every month; and invest a percentage of earnings in tax-advantaged retirement accounts as early and as often as possible,” Gailey says.

3. Talk more about money

Talking about money in American culture can tend to be taboo, and it can be an even bigger taboo for women. But it doesn’t have to be. Talking about money with trusted loved ones will give you a clearer perspective about your own financial situation — for example, you might realize by talking about finances that you actually have a healthy amount in savings or that your pay is below market rate and you should ask for a raise. You can also share what you’ve learned on your own financial journey, helping others along the way and making personal finance a more equitable field for everyone.

Having open conversations about money with friends, family and others in your orbit will help break the stigma of talking about money for everyone. You can start conversations by:

• Asking for help with your own situation. “I’m struggling with keeping my food spending down. Have any tips that worked for you?”
• Sharing your goals for accountability. “I’m trying to save $1,000 in the next few months. Can you check in with me periodically and ask how the savings are going?”
• Sharing your successes. “I finally paid off my last credit card balance! Want to celebrate over dinner?”
• Teaming up to tackle your goals together. “I’m trying to pay off my student loans quickly. Want to make it into a contest and see who can pay theirs off first?”
• Splitting costs and budgeting as a group. “I would love to go on that beach trip, but I’m trying to keep costs down. What if we split the cost of groceries for the trip evenly?”

If you’re unable to talk about money with family or friends, you can also turn to a financial advisor, who can work with your specific situation and walk you through a plan for growing your wealth and planning for the future. Talking about your financial situation with an advisor can also be anxiety-inducing, but a good financial advisor will be nonjudgmental and will have your best interests in mind.

4. Recognize and reward yourself for your accomplishments

Whether it’s a short- or long-term goal, meeting your goals in this economy is a big accomplishment. No matter how small your goal may feel, allow yourself to recognize the achievement and reward yourself appropriately. For a small goal, that may mean treating yourself with a day out or a nice dinner. For large goals, such as a savings goal, you may want to consider using some of those savings for a vacation or large purchase you’ve been eyeing.

The bottom line

Gaining financial confidence isn’t easy, and it’s not always a linear process, especially if you’re financially struggling in today’s economy. But by building a strong baseline financial education and creating goals that work for you, you can gain the confidence needed to meet any financial challenge life throws your way.