A growing socioeconomic divide: Effects of the Great Recession on perceived economic distress in the United States.

ABSTRACT: We demonstrate widening socioeconomic disparities in perceived economic distress among Americans, characterized by increasing distress at the bottom and improved perceptions at the top of the socioeconomic ladder. We then assess the extent to which hardships related to the Great Recession account for the growing social disparity in economic distress. Based on the concept of loss aversion, we also test whether the psychological pain associated with a financial loss is greater than the perceived benefit of an equivalent gain. Analyses are based on longitudinal survey data from the Midlife Development in the US study. Results suggest that widening social disparities in perceived economic distress between the mid-2000s and mid-2010s are explained in part by differential exposure to hardships r

SUBMITTER: Glei DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6448893 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature