Wednesday, March 25, 2009
3 Decade Study: Why more equal societies almost always do better
| From The RSA |
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Richard Wilkinson, Professor of Social Epidemiology, University of Nottingham and Kate Pickett, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, University of York Large inequalities of income in a society have often been regarded as divisive and corrosive, and it is common knowledge that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. But in their new book The Spirit Level, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett draw upon thirty years' research to demonstrate that more unequal societies are bad for almost everyone within them - the well-off as well as the poor. They show that almost every modern social and environmental problem - ill-health, lack of community life, violence, drugs, obesity, mental illness, long working hours, big prison populations - is more likely to occur in a less equal society. Join Richard Wilkinson, Professor of Social Epidemiology, University of Nottingham and Kate Pickett, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, University of York, to consider a new approach to tackling the social challenges which, despite material success, continue to beset us. Chair: Matthew Taylor, chief executive, RSA (Mar 5, 2009 at the RSA) |
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