Relation of income to trends in well-being by age: implications for the future older "forgotten" lower middle class.

ABSTRACT: The structure of social welfare policy has neglected a growing and increasingly economically marginalized segment of the American population-the lower middle class, a large group who are ineligible for many need-based social services. We examined 20-year time trends in physical well-being, mental well-being, and functional well-being by levels of household income. Our descriptive study used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and is representative of the population of the United States, ages 40 to 74, from 2003 to 2022 (n = 5 308 256). We found dramatic and consistent differences in trends in well-being by income category. While well-being generally got worse over the 20-year period for all ages, the declines were most pronounced for lower-middle-income househol

SUBMITTER: Rehkopf DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11829254 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature