For many American families a living wage is out of reach: Report

"Expect the same if we do nothing," one expert said. "The same is not fair."

A new report diving into the data on vital measures of health and social determinants of health finds that women, and particularly women of color, continue to experience steep pay gaps, that many Americans cannot afford child care and many school districts may be underfunded.

The 2022 County Health Rankings report, shared in advance with ABC News, offers a unique snapshot of whether and how Americans are thriving -- or as it may be, surviving.

Metrics like these are meaningful as the nation emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and contends with the "intertwined crises of structural racism and economic exclusion" to examine how living wages or lack thereof "can impact a just recovery," the report said.

"The data reinforces what we’ve known for some time. People in both rural and urban communities face long-standing barriers, systemic barriers -- avoidable barriers -- that get in the way of groups of people and places in our country from being able to live long and well," Sheri Johnson, co-director of County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and director of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, told ABC News.