Income inequality in wealthy countries is higher now than ever since the 1920s. This is not just a source of political discord because economic unfairness undermines health. Obesity is a case in point.

The industrial economy is often lauded as an engine of growth and prosperity. Yet, that economic growth opens up vast wealth gaps between individuals in a country and between entire countries. This phenomenon is not simply an unfortunate contrast between growth in one country, poverty in others, or between individual prosperity and individual destitution. It also has profound health implications.

Overall life expectancy is reduced in highly unequal countries, such as the US (76 years) and Brazil (73), compared to other countries at equivalent GDP levels, such as Japan (85) and Costa Rica (77), respectively. Despite the depressed life expectancy, residents of economically distressed neighborhoods can expect to live more than a decade less than those in the most affluent areas. Interestingly, rich people in unequal countries have lower life expectancy than rich people in more equal countries. There are many plausible explanations for this pattern. Unequal countries are less socially integrated and local communities provide less........

© Psychology Today