You’ve heard about the staggering differences in income between the upper echelons of our society and the rest of us. In fact, if you are one of the rest of us, you’re probably feeling a little bit of the squeeze as an increasing number of people compete for a diminishing slice of pie. But is there anything really wrong with unequal income? Aside from a vague feeling of “hey, that’s not fair”, does it actually hurt our society to have this disparity? Is the jealousy of those not blessed the highest price we pay, or is it more expensive than that?
Turns out that there are implications for the society at large far beyond an individual’s pocketbook. Societies with large differences in income distribution have increased problems with their physical and mental health.
…and with drug abuse, education, and imprisonment.
…and with obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage births, child well-being, and even global warming.
…and more.
As the wealth of a society becomes concentrated in a diminishing percentage of its population, problems pop up in every area of the citizens’ lives. And it’s not just the poor citizens, either… these problems extend across all levels of a society, even to the wealthy class with all the cash. In the end, it seems that you can’t diminish someone else without diminishing yourself.
This issue’s News To Make You Furious takes you down the road of Income Inequality, mainly focusing on one website, The Equality Trust. It’s put together by two British researchers and is a rigorous, peer-reviewed research project correlating statistical data from countries around the world, as well as from each of our 50 states. They find direct, strong associations between the spread of wealth in the countries (or states) and each of the social problems mentioned above. Here’s an excerpt from their “brief overview” section….
(a sample from The Equality Trust website…)
Our thirty years research shows that:
1) In rich countries, a smaller gap between rich and poor means a happier, healthier, and more successful population. Just look at the US, the UK, Portugal, and New Zealand in the top right of this graph, doing much worse than Japan, Sweden or Norway in the bottom left.
2) Meanwhile, more economic growth will NOT lead to a happier, healthier, or more successful population. In fact, there is no relation between income per head and social well-being in rich countries.
3) If the UK were more equal, we’d be better off as a population. For example, the evidence suggests that if we halved inequality here:
– Murder rates would halve
– Mental illness would reduce by two thirds
– Obesity would halve
– Imprisonment would reduce by 80%
– Teen births would reduce by 80%
– Levels of trust would increase by 85%
4) It’s not just poor people who do better. The evidence suggests people all the way up would benefit, although it’s true that the poorest would gain the most.
5) These findings hold true, whether you look across developed nations, or across the 50 states of the USA.
But wait, there’s more!
When you’re done in England, there’s more Furiousity to be found around the world. Here are three websites that will give you more details on national and worldwide wealth.
World income distribution (You know the the top 2% owns half, but where is it?) http://www.gizmag.com/go/6571/
Wealth distribution in the US (from WhoRulesAmerica, a website about power and the use of power in the US.) http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
Analysis of income distribution from the last economic expansion (from the Center on budget and policy priorities, a think-tank that analyzes budget and spending proposals)- http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2908
