Richard Wilkinson - Our Community · 2 Income per head and life-expectancy: rich & poor countries...

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Richard Wilkinson Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology

University of Nottingham

&

Kate Pickett Professor of Epidemiology

University of York

http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk

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Income per head and life-expectancy: rich & poor countries

Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk

www.equalitytrust.org.uk

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Among the rich countries life expectancy is not related to national differences in average income

Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

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…but life expectancy is related to income differences within rich societies


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How much richer are the richest 20% than the poorest 20%?

www.equalitytrust.org.uk Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

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Index of: •  Life expectancy •  Math & Literacy •  Infant mortality •  Homicides •  Imprisonment •  Teenage births •  Trust •  Obesity •  Mental illness – incl.

drug & alcohol addiction

•  Social mobility

Health and Social Problems are Worse in More Unequal Countries


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Health and Social Problems are not Related to Average Income in Rich Countries





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Child Well-being is Better in More Equal Rich Countries


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Child-Wellbeing is Unrelated to Average Incomes in Rich Countries


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Levels of Trust are Higher in More Equal Rich Countries


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Levels of Trust are Higher in More Equal US States


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The Prevalence of Mental Illness is Higher in More Unequal Rich Countries


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Drug Use is More Common in More Unequal Countries


Index of use of: opiates, cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines

www.equalitytrust.org.uk

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Infant Mortality Rates are Higher in More Unequal Countries


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More Adults are Obese in More Unequal Rich Countries


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Teenage Birth Rates are Higher in More Unequal Rich Countries


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Source: Daly M, Wilson M, Vasdev S. Income inequality and homicide rates in Canada and the United States. Canadian Journal of Criminology 2001; 43: 219-36.

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Rates of Imprisonment are Higher in More Unequal Countries


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Social Mobility is Higher in More Equal Rich Countries


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Almost everyone benefits from greater equality.

Usually the benefits are greatest among the poor but extend to the majority of the population

22 Source: Leon DA, Vagero D, Olausson PO. BMJ 1992; 305; 687-91

Infa

nt M

orta

lity

rate

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Literacy Scores of 16-25 year olds by Parents' Education

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Parents' Education (years)

Lite

racy

sco

re

Sweden

Canada

United States

Source: Willms JD. 1997. Data from OECD Programme for International Student Assessment.

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Health and Social Problems are Worse in More Unequal Countries


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Causality?

•  Not a big causal leap: - problems related to social status get worse when status differences increase

•  Problems move together - a common cause

•  Reverse causality?

•  Many of the causal pathways are known

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Single parents and child wellbeing

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Why are we so sensitive to inequality?

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Psychosocial risk factors for ill health

  Low social status

  Weak social affiliations

  Stress in early life (pre- and postnatally)

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ACTH

Cortisol

Tasks with both social-evaluative

threat and uncontrollability

Other tasks

Effe

ct s

ize

Source: Dickerson SS & Kemeny ME. Psychological Bulletin 2004; 130(3): 355-91

What kind of stress most reliably raises cortisol levels?

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Stereotype Threat The effect of caste identity on children's performance

Caste Unannounced

Caste Announced

Num

ber o

f maz

es s

olve

d

Source: Hoff K, Pandey P, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3351, June 2004

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Gilligan J. Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and its Causes. (G .P. Putnam 1996)

" ...the prison inmates I work with have told me repeatedly, when I asked them why they had assaulted someone, that it was because 'he disrespected me', or 'he disrespected my visit' (meaning 'visitor'). The word 'disrespect' is central in the vocabulary, moral value system, and psychodynamics of these chronically violent men that they have abbreviated it into the slang term, 'he dis'ed me." p.106

A few pages further on Gilligan continues:- "I have yet to see a serious act of violence that was not provoked by the experience of feeling shamed and humiliated, disrespected and ridiculed, and that did not represent the attempt to prevent or undo this "loss of face " - no matter how severe the punishment, even if it includes death." p.110

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The effects of inequality - a two stage process

1.   adult experience of inequality

2.   passed on to children – epigenetics?

33 Source: Bowles S, Park Y. Economic Journal 2005; 115 (507): F397–F412. 2005.

Working hours are longer in more unequal countries

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Ratio of 80th to 20th percentile of equivalised disposable household income. Australia 1981–2003

Source: Luxembourg Income Study

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http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk

For more information: … a book

and a website…

Richard Wilkinson - Our Community · 2 Income per head and life-expectancy: rich & poor countries...

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