New Research Challenges Idea that Economic Inequality is Inevitable

A study analyzing tens of thousands of houses within over 1,000 archaeological sites spanning six continents and 10,000 years found that economic inequality is a choice.

Photo by Martin Wyall on Unsplash

We humans are a confounding species. On the one hand, we’re social animals that thrive most when in diverse, cooperative communities. On the other hand, we continually segregate ourselves into smaller, more distinct categories — economic class, education, ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc. — and invent hierarchies within each one that further separate us.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed just how entrenched and widespread these contrasts are worldwide. Now, economic insecurity, staggering inequality, social fragmentation, and plummeting social trust are destabilizing societies everywhere. According to the 2025 World Social Report, 65 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income inequality is growing.

But has it always been this way? Is inequality a hard-wired social structure we cannot change and inevitably fall back on? Well, according to researchers, the answer to both questions is no. Instead, scientists say that while evidence of inequality is…