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Inequality: the enemy between us? Richard Wilkinson Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology

Inequality: the enemy between us? Richard Wilkinson Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology. Income per head and life-expectancy: rich & poor countries. www.equalitytrust.org.uk. Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009). www.equalitytrust.org.uk.

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Inequality: the enemy between us? Richard Wilkinson Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology

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  1. Inequality: the enemy between us? Richard Wilkinson Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology

  2. Income per head and life-expectancy: rich & poor countries www.equalitytrust.org.uk Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

  3. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Life expectancy in rich countries is no longer related to National Income per head Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  4. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Life expectancy is strongly related to income within rich countries RichestPoorest Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  5. www.equalitytrust.org.uk • Inequality... • How much richer are the richest 20% in each country than the poorest 20%? Income gaps How many times richer are the richest fifth than the poorest fifth? Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  6. Health and social problems with social gradients and internationally comparable data • Life expectancy • Math & Literacy • Infant mortality • Homicides • Imprisonment • Teenage births • Trust • Obesity • Mental illness – incl. drug & alcohol addiction • Social mobility

  7. Health and social problems are worse in more unequal countries www.equalitytrust.org.uk • Index of: • Life expectancy • Math & Literacy • Infant mortality • Homicides • Imprisonment • Teenage births • Trust • Obesity • Mental illness – incl. drug & alcohol addiction • Social mobility Index of health and social problems Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  8. Neither health nor social problems are related to national income per head • Index of: • Life expectancy • Math & Literacy • Infant mortality • Homicides • Imprisonment • Teenage births • Trust • Obesity • Mental illness – incl. drug & alcohol addiction • Social mobility Index of health and social problems Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level www.equalitytrust.org.uk

  9. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Child well-being is better in more equal countries Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  10. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Child Wellbeing is not related to National Income per head Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  11. www.equalitytrust.org.uk People in more unequal countries trust each other less Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  12. www.equalitytrust.org.uk People in more unequal states of the USA trust each other less Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  13. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Mental illness is more common in more unequal societies Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  14. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Infant Mortality Rates are Higher in More Unequal Countries Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

  15. USA states Canadian provinces Homicide rates are higher in more unequal US states and Canadian provinces Daly M, Wilson M, Vasdev S. Income inequality and homicide rates in Canada and the United States. Can J Crim 2001; 43: 219-36.

  16. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Imprisonment rates are higher in more unequal countries Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  17. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Teenage Birth Rates are Higher in More Unequal Rich Countries Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

  18. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Social mobility is lower in more unequal countries Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  19. In summary... bigger income gaps lead to deteriorations in:- • Health • Drug abuse • Infant mortality • Life expectancy • Mental illness • Obesity • Social Relations • Child conflict • Homicide • Imprisonment • Social capital • Trust • Human Capital • Child wellbeing • High school drop outs • Math & literacy scores • Social mobility • Teenage births Exceptions:suicide?

  20. Correlations: different measures and settings

  21. Lag times: marginal impact of a 0.01-unit increase in the Gini on individual mortality risk over time Mortality: Odds Ratio Lag time - Years Zheng H. Social Science & Medicine 2012; 75: 36-45.

  22. Health and social problems are worse in more unequal countries www.equalitytrust.org.uk • Index of: • Life expectancy • Math & Literacy • Infant mortality • Homicides • Imprisonment • Teenage births • Trust • Obesity • Mental illness – incl. drug & alcohol addiction • Social mobility Index of health and social problems Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level

  23. The benefits of greater equality are not confined to the poor but extend to all social classes Infant mortality by class: Sweden compared with England & Wales Leon, D. A., D. Vagero, et al. (1992). "Social class differences in infant mortality in Sweden: comparison with England and Wales." Brit Med J 305(6855): 687-91.

  24. Literacy Scores of 16-25 year olds by Parents' Education 1 0.5 Sweden 0 Literacy score Canada -0.5 -1 United States -1.5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Parents' Education (years) Source: Willms JD. 1997. Data from OECD Programme for International Student Assessment.

  25. These relationships reflect deep-seated social processes. • What are they? • How do they work?

  26. Income differences increase social class differentiation • Bigger income differences:- • Class becomes more important • The social pyramid is higher and more hierarchical • The quality of social relations deteriorates

  27. More inequality Valued or Devalued? • More superiority and inferiority • More status competition and consumerism • More status insecurity • More worry about how we are seen and judged • More “social evaluation anxiety”(threats to self-esteem & social status, fear of negative judgements

  28. Even low levels of stress raise death rates Russ TC, Stamatakis E, Hamer M, Starr JM, Kivimäki M, Batty GD. Association between psychological distress and mortality: pooled analysis of 10 prospective cohort studies. BMJ 2012; 345: e4933.

  29. Psychosocial risk factors for ill health • Low social status • Weak social connections • Stress in early life (pre- and postnatally) 30

  30. What kind of stressful tasks raise stress hormones most? Cortisol response(effect size) Tasks with ‘social evaluative threat’ (uncontrollable) Other tasks Dickerson SS, Kemeny ME. Acute stressors and cortisol responses. Psychological Bulletin 2004; 130(3): 355-91.

  31. Self enhancement increases in more unequal societies Loughnan S, et al. Economic Inequality is linked to biased self-perception. Psychological Science, 2011; 22: 1254

  32. Rising narcissism among American college students(meta-analysis of 85 samples 1979-2006) Narcissistic Personality Inventory Twenge JM, Konrath S, Foster JD, Campbell WK, Bushman BJ. Egos inflating over time. J Personality 2008; 76(4): 875-901.

  33. Rising income inequality in Britain 1979-2011 Inequality (Gini) Cribb J, Joyce R, Phillips D. Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2012. Institute for Fiscal Studies, London 2012

  34. What can be done? • Income differences before tax • Stronger Trade Unions • Increase company democracy - employee ownership etc • Promote more directors from within companies • Taxes & benefits • Stop tax avoidance • End tax havens • Make taxation progressive again Sustainability needs greater equality

  35. Changing ratio of CEO pay to average pay of production & non-supervisory workers in top 350 US companies • Between 1979-2007 the income of the:- • Top 0.1% increased by 362% • Top 1% increased by 156% • Bottom 90% increased by17% Mishel L, Sabadish N. Economic Policy Institute Brief #331. Washington, May 2012

  36. Pay differentials • Pay ratios in public sector usually between 1:10 and 1:20 • Average for FTSE 100 companies 1:300 • 78% of public think the pay gap is too large, but only 27% support higher welfare benefits. (Brit SocAtts Survey) • Greater London Assembly committed (16thJune 2010) to pay differences of 1:20, with a long term goal of 1:10. • Hutton Report suggested public sector 1:20 • Brit SocAtts Survey: Appropriate pay for unskilled worker: £16,000, for CEO of large company: £100,000. i.e. ratio of less than 1:7 • Fairness Commissions have recommended Living Wage • Referendum in Switzerland (Nov 2013) limiting pay differentials to 1:12 • WageMark – a new standard (like Fair Trade) to be launched for companies with pay differences less than 1:8 • Mondragon Cooperatives between 1:3 and 1:9. Ave 1:5

  37. http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk • For more information: • … a book • and a website…

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