Exposing The Impact Of Social Inequality: Health and wellbeing: Justice and equality

Why do wealthy, industrialized nations yet have a variety of social and health issues?

The Issue

Health disparities are severe and persistent, and in wealthy, industrialized countries, population health and happiness are no longer correlated with economic progress. So how can our economic and social structures affect happiness? This issue was looked into by Richard Wilkinson, a visiting professor at the University of York, and Kate Pickett, an epidemiology professor in the Department of Health Sciences.

The Research

The research of Professors Pickett and Wilkinson, compiled in The Spirit Level (Penguin, 2009) and The Inner Level (Penguin, 2018), demonstrates how income inequality—the difference between the rich and the poor—strongly affects people's health and happiness as well as the development of human capital and social cohesion. 

According to their research, inequality contributes to a wide range of health and social issues, including lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, worse social mobility, higher levels of violence, and mental illness.

Everyone is impacted by the stark differences between civilizations with greater and lesser levels of equality. Inequality has an impact on our private, intimate lives and psychologically separates us from the status, help, and community that keep us healthy. 

According to Professors Pickett and Wilkinson, inequality is a significant barrier to developing sustainable economies that maximize the health and wellbeing of both people and the planet. Inequality makes consumption worse since it is all about self-improvement and status rivalry. Inequality decreases people's motivation to act in the public interest and causes a breakdown in social cohesion, trust, and solidarity.

The Outcome

To spread action to encourage greater equality in the UK and around the world, the academics co-founded The Equality Trust, an educational and campaigning foundation.