Settlement, inequality and wellbeing: settled social structures and the creation of inequality and low life satisfaction in Northwest Cambodia

Life satisfaction and wellbeing are crucial aspects of human development and are well known to be especially challenging for poorer individuals and households in the majority (developing) world. This research was motivated by a puzzle, where a census of 2,506 households across eight Northwest Cambodian villages, found markedly higher life satisfaction in four upland villages, despite dramatically lower incomes and worse human development indicators. We show that this difference is explained by the more recent settlement of these villages, which correlates with much lower levels of inequality (Gini index). Multilevel regression modelling shows that higher levels of income inequality within a village correlates strongly with longer settlement time of villages, and when controlling for major predictors, higher income inequality predicts lower life satisfaction for lower income households (Std Beta for interaction of Gini index * low income: −0.10; 95 % CI: −0.18, −0.03). We interpret these findings as suggesting that longer settlement of villages has consolidated social structures and power, which has increased inequality, which has lowered the life satisfaction of low income households. This carries significant implications for the rural development initiatives that inform the sustainable development goals (SDGs), in which ensuring a ‘good life’ for all, particularly low-income groups, relies heavily on community-based approaches. To successfully support human development and the SDGs, countervailing policies that redress the tendencies of time and space to increase inequality are required to counter differentiated and detrimental impacts on the wellbeing of poorer villagers.