CNN host John Berman and data analyst Harry Enten examined new figures on Monday showing that younger generations are increasingly losing faith in the "American Dream."

Describing it as the "great American promise," Berman noted that for centuries the pledge has been that each generation will be better off than their parents. That assumption began to change after the 2007-2008 economic crash, the deepest downturn since the Great Depression, which hit just as many millennials were entering the workforce. Now, amid another Middle East war and an economic slump, another generation is confronting a weak job market and wages that do not keep pace with inflation. The pressures have compounded since that crash: Americans now owe more than $1.7 trillion in student loans, while record-high home prices and mortgage rates well above their pandemic-era lows have pushed ownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers.

The shift is stark in the numbers tracking "life opportunities versus your parents' generation." In 2000, 72 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds believed their lives would be better than their parents', while only 5 percent said they thought things would be "worse."

That figure changed dramatically among younger adults by 2016. "Then it was 23 percent in 2016," who believed that life would be worse, Enten said. "Now. Oh my God, that is what Johnny B is saying on the side of the screen there, the majority, 54 percent, say, in fact, their life opportunities versus their parents' generation are worse. That's an over 50-point climb. In the last 26 years, since the beginning of this century, this, more than anything else, tells us so much about our politics right now."

"This is bleak. I mean, this is just incredibly bleak," Berman said.

Turning to Trump's numbers among young voters, Enten noted that in 2024 he made significant inroads with a generation that has traditionally been more progressive. National exit polls that year bore that out, showing Trump winning a majority of men under 30 and narrowing his party's deficit among voters under 30 overall compared with 2020.

"But now, as he hasn't been able to deliver in their eyes, look at this," Enten continued. "Under the age of 30, Trump net approval: it was plus ten points at the beginning of his presidency. And now way down there, -30 points."

Enten identified Texas as the state where that shift could matter most in the 2026 midterm elections, describing it as one of the youngest states in the U.S. He pointed to the Texas 15th District, which Trump won by 18 points in 2024. Looking at prediction markets rather than political polls, the congressional race there is currently a statistical tie, with Bobby Pulido up 52 percent over Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) at 48 percent. The 15th is a South Texas seat that includes part of the Rio Grande Valley; it was redrawn in 2021 to lean more Republican, helping De La Cruz flip it in 2022, and Pulido is a Tejano music star making his first run for office. Prediction markets differ from polls in that they price races based on where users are actually willing to put money rather than on how respondents say they would vote. Historically, the party holding the White House has lost House seats in nearly every midterm since World War II, adding to the attention on districts like this one.

"That tells us everything we need to know. Younger people just don't see the opportunities that those in past generations saw compared to their parents," Enten said. "And you're seeing these big swings as they kind of push out Republicans, pull them in, push them out, as they just don't feel that they've been able to."

The segment is available on YouTube.