Who walks more has a higher chance of becoming richer?

There are many benefits to walking. Regular physical activity makes us healthier. People who live in areas where the infrastructure is adapted for walking tend to be more active, and they also have more time for family and loved ones.

But the benefits of places with high foot traffic are not limited to this! It turns out that children who grow up in neighborhoods where you can do without your own car are more likely to have a successful life. And with a high degree of probability, their income will be higher than that of their parents. This was found by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Virginia and the University of Illinois.

Upstairs

Economic mobility is a force that helps a person move up or down the economic ladder. We are primarily interested in the “rise”, and therefore we often talk not about economic mobility as such, but about the so-called social elevator.

This phenomenon refers to the various promotions that people use to advance their careers and improve their standard of living in general. But not only the personal efforts of a particular person affect his income in the future: the environment can also influence which rung on the “ladder” we take.

A recent study found that our ability to be economically mobile is related to where we grew up.

Scientists analyzed data from 9 million Americans born between 1980 and 1982. They examined the likelihood that children from families who were at the bottom of the income list would reach a high income level by the age of 30. It turned out that the chances of success for those who grew up in places with high foot traffic are higher than those who spent their childhood in other conditions.

That is, the highest level of economic mobility is shown by those whose childhood was spent in areas where it was possible to move on foot.

Luckily, on your own

The advantages of the area on which you can move on foot, as we have already said, are many. People who live in walkable areas can spend more time with their family and spend less time commuting from home to work. Also, those who live in such places are more likely than others to report higher levels of happiness and well-being.

The researchers took into account that the result may reflect the influence of not the ability to move around without a car as such, but other characteristics inherent in pedestrian areas. It turned out that the level of economic mobility is higher in those communities where the population density is higher and the level of segregation is lower.

That is, areas with good walking distance are not just convenient infrastructure. Often, a city’s “passability” speaks of higher incomes, better health and life expectancy of its population, the researchers say. In such settlements, there is more work associated with mental activity, and not with heavy physical labor. The crime rate is lower there, and the residents treat each other more calmly and tolerantly.

Families with children living in areas that are easy to get around without a car also have a number of advantages. First, you can save on gasoline and car maintenance. Secondly, the walking distance of various infrastructure facilities gives local residents access to a wide range of jobs. Consequently, the economic opportunities for the population are higher than in the area where you can only move by car.

When our need for a car decreases, new opportunities open up in front of us in terms of employment and choice of field of activity, the authors of the study are sure. And it is also easier for residents of settlements that are convenient for walking to get an education in good schools, because it is simply easier for everyone to get to them.

So, if we want children to have more opportunities, it is better to live with them where there is an opportunity to use the car as little as possible, psychologists are sure.