Why Equality is Better for Everyone
Tuesday, 15. October 2013 | 16:45 Uhr
Speaker
Organisation
Reporting
Professor Emeritus Richard Wilkinson of the Social Epidemiology Department of the University of Nottingham compared societies from different angles to find out which are happiest.
If you compare life expectancy, mental health, the rate of violence, birth rates among teenagers, drug abuse, child welfare, obesity, degree of trust, the academic performance of students, or the strength of societal life among rich countries, it becomes clear that societies that tend to do well on any of these factors also tend to do well on the other ones and vice versa.
The key lies in the amount of inequality in every society. In relation to other countries, the more unequal, the less trust exists and the more psychological problems persist.
The larger the gap between two extremes, the more violence, underage parents and the less social mobility occurs statistically. At the same time, expenditures for government institutions such as the police increase. Security is more expensive in a dissatisfied country because there are more problems that need to be kept under control.
You can read more on this in Monika Wehrli’s blog or by watching the video.
Richard Wilkinson
Richard G. Wilkinson, born 1943, is a British researcher in social inequalities in health and the social determinants of health.
He is Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, having retired in 2008.
He is also Honorary Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London and Visiting Professor at University of York.
