I'm watching a 20/20 episode highlighting the current struggles of middle class America, and it is thoroughly depressing. I am a U.S. citizen but I've been living/working in South Korea for the last 8 years so I don't know what it's like to live in America these days. In a few months I will move back to the U.S. permanently with my husband to start a new chapter of our lives, but now I'm afraid the America I rememember as a kid/teen is gone, replaced by a country where dreams are laughable and impossible to achieve. I grew up middle class but had a great childhood with what we could afford. We weren't on food stamps, and had a "normal" carefree 90's childhood. My father was a siding construction worker for 18 years, which provided for us very nicely with his income alone. And then the housing market crashed in 2008, he lost his job suddenly, and we eventually had to file for bankruptcy. Today, my immigrant parents (both naturalized US citizens) are slowly building back up what they've lost by doing whatever jobs they can, cleaning buildings, home remodeling construction, nannying. My mom survived breast cancer two years ago and had to get a double masectomy, but she's still working. They're both 57 years old and constantly doing hard labor all week every week and still have to recieve some government aid. This doesn't sound like the America I grew up in.

The American Dream I want to start with my husband this year (albeit naive) is simple: Work hard, save money to buy a modest home in about 5 years, have 2 or 3 children someday (I'm 30 and he's 33 now), maybe a dog too, and live comfortably and happily. I don't care about expensive bags or shoes, and we don't need fancy cars or brand-name whatever. I just want to humbly raise our future kids in a safe surburban neighborhood and send them to good public schools like I did all my life, and for my husband to be able to see the kids for more than 15mins a day. The work environment and education system in Korea is toxic - Kids are under so much pressure to study all the time and they come home around 10pm from after-school "cram schools", and fathers coming home from work before 9pm is considered lucky, and they often have to work weekends if the boss says so. The mothers do EVERYTHING in the household and basically raise the kids on their own b/c the husband is always exhausted from overworking. (There is just too much to say on this so I'll just say it SUCKS here and there is a reason why South Korea is the #2 country for highest suicide rates. I refuse to raise a family here.)

Anyway I was just wondering what you ladies think of working and living in America right now. Is it as depressing as it is portrayed in the documentary? How bad is it in reality? Is it possible to save any money after paying off your bills and feeding the family? Do you see the American economy improving soon? What is the American Dream to you? (Sorry for all the questions, you can just choose one to answer haha)