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How American Lives Have Changed Over the Last 100 Years

What does it take to win at the game of life known as the American Dream?

By Brian Hurst,
Brian Hurst
Brian Hurst—illustrator and graphic designer—lives in Southern California with his wife and new baby girl. When he is isn't drawing pictures, he...uh, well, he is usually just drawing pictures.
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Jordan E. Rosenfeld
Jordan E. Rosenfeld
Jordan E. Rosenfeld is author of 7 books, most recently Writing the Intimate Character (Writer's Digest, 2016). Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, GOOD, DAME Magazine, Mental Floss, New York Magazine, Pacific Standard, Quartz, Scientific American, the Washington Post and many more. @JordanRosenfeld.
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Aug 28, 2015

What does it take to win at the game of life known as the American Dream? Across the decades, Americans have faced new challenges, steeper costs of living, more diversity when it comes to family structure and race—and have evolved to meet these changing circumstances with new innovations.

In this infographic powered by data from Progressive, we’ll take a look at how nine key life milestones have changed for Americans over the last 100 years.

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