How a Lack of Jobs May Be Changing Family Structures

In the U.S., the consequences of a widening economic gap are serious and diverse. Studies have linked greater income inequality to higher rates of obesity, mortality, and teenage birth rates, poorer educational attainment and social cohesion, lower rates of marriage, and many other outcomes.

Yet, for all we know about economic inequality in terms of broad, macroscopic trends, there’s relatively little research-backed, individual-level evidence that bears them out. Most of those aforementioned findings draw from aggregated statistics at the national, state, or metropolitan levels. By the same token, individual-level mechanisms actually driving income inequality’s effects aren’t entirely understood. For example, the income gap per se is not causing more individuals to die in certain areas—but stress related to unemployment, a lack of access to healthcare, and dwindling community support could be.