The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger

Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett

Bloomsbury Publishing USA, May 3, 2011 - Social Science - 374 pages

It is a well-established fact that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. The Spirit Level, based on thirty years of research, takes this truth a step further. One common factor links the healthiest and happiest societies: the degree of equality among their members. Further, more unequal societies are bad for everyone within them-the rich and middle class as well as the poor.
The remarkable data assembled in The Spirit Level exposes stark differences, not only among the nations of the first world but even within America's fifty states. Almost every modern social problem-poor health, violence, lack of community life, teen pregnancy, mental illness-is more likely to occur in a less-equal society.
Renowned researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett lay bare the contradictions between material success and social failure in the developed world. But they do not merely tell us what's wrong. They offer a way toward a new political outlook, shifting from self-interested consumerism to a friendlier, more sustainable society.

Contents

• The end of an era: 3
• Poverty or inequality?: 15
• How inequality gets under the skin: 31
• Community life and social relations: 49
• Mental health and drug use: 63
• Physical health and life expectancy: 73
• wider income gaps wider waists: 89
• Educational performance: 103
• recycling deprivation: 119
• gaining respect: 129
• Imprisonment and punishment: 145
• unequal opportunities: 157
• Dysfunctional societies: 173
• Our social inheritance: 197
• Equality and sustainability: 217
• Building the future: 235
• Postscript Research Meets Politics: 273
• The Equality Trust: 299
• Sources of Data for the Indices: 306
• References: 312
• Index: 343

About the author

Richard Wilkinson has played a formative role in international research on inequality, and his work has been published in ten languages. He is professor emeritus at the University of Nottingham Medical School
Kate Pickett is a professor of epidemiology at the University of York and a National Institute for Health Research career scientist.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
• Authors: Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011
• ISBN: 1608193411, 9781608193417
• Length: 374 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Economics / General; Political Science / Political Economy; Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy; Social Science / General; Social Science / Social Classes & Economic Disparity