Rising Income Inequality and Longer Work Hours: Global Trends and Longitudinal Evidence From the United States and China

This research examines how rising income inequality prompts longer work hours. In Study 1, the largest cross-national analysis to date (2,798 country-years; 1960–2019), a one-tenth increase in a country’s Gini index predicted an additional 60 annual work hours per capita. In Study 2, a large-scale longitudinal study in the United States (33,083 participants; 1968–2021), increasing state-level Gini index predicted longer work hours over time, particularly among individuals with low income, Black Americans, and women. In Study 3, a large-scale longitudinal study in China (26,251 participants; 2012–2020), increasing individual-level perceptions of inequality predicted longer work hours over time across all subgroups; by contrast, increasing province-level Gini index predicted longer work hours only among individuals with urban hukou , not among those with rural hukou . By integrating cross-national and longitudinal data, examining subgroup variation, and incorporating perceptions of inequality, this research provides a nuanced account of the link between rising inequality and longer work hours.