Growing up in an age of economic inequality: A social-cognitive developmental framework

Economic inequality has reached extreme levels worldwide, and children will bear its burden. How do children perceive and explain economic inequality? And how do these perceptions and explanations, in turn, shape their development? We address these questions by proposing an integrative social-cognitive developmental framework. According to the framework, when children enter a new context, they consider a series of questions: (1) Is there inequality? (2) What causes inequality? (3) What does inequality say about me? (4) What does inequality say about us? (5) And do I address inequality? We suggest that children's perceptions and explanations of economic inequality-above and beyond exposure to the inequality in itself-have profound consequences for mental health, social relationships, motivation, and egalitarianism (e.g., whether children rectify or perpetuate inequality). Children's perceptions and explanations, then, might serve as levers for intervention to help children navigate the current age of inequality.