, Columnist
Another Sign of Inequality: Minutes Spent Waiting
New research shows that poorer people — and Black people at all income levels — spend more time waiting for services.
The waiting is the hardest part.
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We’ve waited far too long for a scientific study of waiting. From queues to telephone holds to waiting rooms, delays are all around us and they’re miserable. And according to new research just published in Nature Human Behavior, lower income people and Black people of all income levels get stuck with more of it than others.
Waiting is a form of time theft. By making us wait, government institutions and private companies steal precious moments we could have spent working, vacationing, resting, tending to our relationships or getting other things done.