11. Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level
Index of:
• Life expectancy
• Math & Literacy
• Infant mortality
• Homicides
• Imprisonment
• Teenage births
• Trust
• Obesity
• Mental illness
– incl. drug &
alcohol
addiction
• Social mobility
www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Health and social problems are worse
in more unequal countries
Index
of
health
and
social
problems
12. www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level
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
16. Educational Scores are Higher in More Equal Rich
Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
17. Children Experience More Conflict in More Unequal Societies
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)
11, 13 & 15 yr olds fighting, bullying, and finding peers not kind & helpful
www.equalitytrust.org.uk
18. More Children Drop Out of High School in More Unequal US States
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
20. 20
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)
Literacy
score
Sweden
Canada
United States
Source: Willms JD. 1997. Data from OECD Programme for International Student Assessment.
21. More
inequality
• 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
Valued or
Devalued?
22. 22
Stereotype Threat
The effect of caste identity on children's performance
Caste
Unannounced
Caste
Announced
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
High Caste
Low Caste
Number
of
mazes
solved
Source: Hoff K, Pandey P, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3351, June 2004
23. Loughnan S, et al. Economic Inequality is linked to biased self-perception.
Psychological Science, 2011; 22: 1254
In more unequal countries people abandon modesty
and emphasise their achievments
24. 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Other
tasks
Tasks with ‘social
evaluative threat’
(uncontrollable)
Cortisol
response
(effect
size)
Dickerson SS, Kemeny ME. Acute stressors and cortisol
responses. Psychological Bulletin 2004; 130(3): 355-91.
What kind of stressful tasks raise
stress hormones most?
25. Well-being and long-term illness related
to feeling shamed
Data from Swedish Liv & Halsa survey 2004. Starrin B, Wettergren A.
Shame and humiliation in narrative social life. (forthcoming).
Number of ways
people felt shamed in
last 3 months
26. 26
The effects of inequality - a two stage process
1. adult experience of inequality
2. passed on to children – epigenetics?
27. Trends in income inequality 1979-2005/6
(Gini coefficient, Great Britain.)
Brewer M, Goodman A, Muriel A, Sibieta L.
Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2007.
28. 3.7 3.9
4.3 4.6 4.8
5.2 5.3 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.7
6.1 6.2
6.7 6.8 6.8
7.2
8.5
9.7
4.0
8.0
7.0
3.4
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Income gaps
How many times richer
are the richest fifth than
the poorest fifth?
Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Inequality...
How much richer are the richest 20% in
each country than the poorest 20%?
30. What can be done?
Taxes & benefits
• Stop tax
avoidance
• End tax havens
• Make taxation
progressive
again
Income differences
before tax
• Increase company
democracy -
employee
ownership etc
• Promote more
directors from
within companies Sustainability needs
greater equality
