Everyone living in Ireland, North and South, could lead happier, healthier and longer lives if measures were put in place to achieve greater income equality according to the authors of ‘The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better’.

Prof Richard Wilkinson and Dr. Kate Pickett will present their findings showing how greater income equality in rich countries is key to reducing social problems and improving health. 

 

‘The Spirit Level’ highlights how more unequal societies are bad for almost everyone – rich as well as poor. It demonstrates that nearly every modern social and health problem – obesity, lack of community life, violence, drugs, mental illness and big prison populations – are more likely to occur in a less equal society. 

 

IPH Chief Executive, Dr. Jane Wilde said “The evidence shows the need to change from being focused on the pursuit of greater wealth to how existing wealth can be more evenly distributed. The current economic climate presents real opportunity to reflect on what we value in society, to learn from mistakes and make plans to move towards communities that are better for everyone.”

Points from the book

The authors state that after a point, additional income buys less and less additional health, happiness and wellbeing.  “The rich developed societies have reached a turning point in human history. Politics should now be about the quality of social relationships and how we can develop harmonious and sustainable societies.”

 

They argue that if the UK became as equal as the average of the four most equal of the rich countries (Japan, Norway, Sweden and Finland), levels of trust might be expected to increase by two-thirds, homicide rates could fall by three-quarters, everyone could receive the equivalent of almost seven weeks extra holiday a year, and government could be closing prisons all over the country.

 

The same rationale would apply to the Republic of Ireland where they say the evidence clearly shows that greater equality would result in better outcomes across all these social and health indicators.

Income gaps
The authors tracked the income gap in 22 of the world’s richest countries, comparing how much richer the richest 20 per cent are compared to the poorest 20 per cent.

 

The UK was found to have the third highest income gap with the wealthiest 20% having an income more than seven times higher than the poorest 20%. The Republic of Ireland had the tenth highest income gap with the top 20% more than six times richer than the poorest 20%. The United States had the highest income gap of eight and a half times while Japan and the Scandinavian countries had an income gap of four or less.

 

The authors looked at an index of health and social problem indicators such as life expectancy, mathematics and literacy scores, infant mortality, homicides, imprisonment, teenage births, trust, obesity, mental illness, alcohol and drug addiction and social mobility.  They discovered poorer outcomes in each aspect in the more unequal wealthy societies. 

 

The country with the greatest income gap, the US, had the highest rating for health and social problems while the most equal rich society in terms of income gap, Japan, had the smallest level of problems.

 

The authors draw the conclusion that health and social problems among rich countries is not related to average income of those countries, but to the level of inequality within those countries.

 

The authors compared rates of child wellbeing across the 22 countries using the UNICEF index of child wellbeing. Children fare best in more equal wealthy societies and worse in less equal wealthy societies. The UK had the worst rating for child wellbeing with Ireland eleventh. Again the Scandinavian countries fared best.

 

Interestingly the study found social mobility to be highest in the most equal societies (Scandinavian countries) while two of the countries with the highest income gap, the US and the UK, had the lowest level of social mobility.     

 

In terms of innovation the Scandinavian countries had the highest rating for number of patents with Ireland coming third. The US had the second lowest rating for innovation with the UK having the fourth lowest.

ENDS

Further Information

Arlene McKay, Institute of Public Health in Ireland: 028 9069 0058 or  07734903944 

Gráinne Walsh, Stratagem: 028 908 72800 or 0792 016 5600.

Arlene McKay, Institute of Public Health in Ireland: 048 9069 0058 or 00447734903944 

 

 

 

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) was established to promote cooperation for public health across the island of Ireland. It aims to improve health by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policy in favour of health. Further information can be found at www.publichealth.ie.

 

1.         Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett are speaking from 5pm-6.30pm, 3 June, Farset International, 466 Springfield Road, Belfast. They will be speaking in Dublin from        5.00 – 6.30pm on Thursday 4 June, Alexander Hotel, Fenian Street, Dublin 2. To reserve a place, please contact Sharon.brennan@publichealth.ie or aisling.oconnor@publichealth.ie

 

2.         The books findings are based on a comparative analysis of rich countries and the US states.   A set of slides illustrating the evidence is available from The Equality Trust http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/node/130 

 

3.         Richard Wilkinson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham Medical School, and Kate Pickett is a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology at the University of York.

 

4.         Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett are Directors of The Equality Trust which campaigns for greater equality of income as the best way to create a better society. For information access the Equality Trust http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk

 

5.         The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett is published by Allen Lane (2009).