Fewer and fewer voters believe in the American dream or the idea that hard work helps you become successful, according to a new poll.

About 36% of voters still believe the dream holds true. Even more voters — 45% — said the dream was once true but isn’t now, and 18% said it was never true, found a poll conducted last month by the Wall Street Journal and the University of Chicago.

Belief in the American dream has been on the decline. In 2016, 48% believed in it, down from 53% who believed in 2012.

In the new poll, fewer women believe in the American dream, with 28% of women saying it is still alive compared to 46% of male voters saying the same. Younger voters, at 28%, are inclined to not believe in the American dream, while 48% of those over the age of 65 believe it still holds true.

The pollsters also asked voters if they thought life in America was better today than it was 50 years ago and whether the economic and political systems were “stacked against” them. Half of voters found life to be worse now than it was 50 years ago and half agreed that the systems are stacked against them.

The percentage of voters who rate the economy as “excellent” or “good” has gone up to 35% from 20% in May. Those who rated it “not so good” or “poor” fell to 65% from 83%.

Inflation was one of the reasons people gave for saying they didn’t feel economically confident.

The poll was conducted from Oct. 19-24. It surveyed 1,163 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.