The Effects of Inequality

Why More Equality? The Effects of Inequality Until recently, most of the argument about the scale of income inequality in modern societies has been about fairness and unfairness. But it has recently become possible to compare the scale of income differences in different societies and see how the social fabric of society is affected by how much inequality there is. Research using this data carried out since the early 1990s shows that many of the most pressing health and social problems are worse in more unequal societies - often much worse. Societies with bigger income differences between rich and poor seem to suffer more of a very wide range of health and social problems. These web pages outline the evidence and tell you where to find more detailed summaries and research reports. A straight forward outline of all the material can be found in a book written by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, called The Spirit Level, published by Penguin. Buy the book from Amazon.