This is a new idea. The current generation is the first generation that everybody thinks will not do as well as the preceding one.
During all of the economic problems of the past, polls consistently shown that people, as bad as things were, expected their kids to have a better financial life than their own. This is no longer true.
Note that the data is different depending on whether you ask "will children do as well as their parents?" or "will your children do as well as their parents?"
During all of the economic problems of the past, polls consistently shown that people, as bad as things were, expected their kids to have a better financial life than their own. This is no longer true.