Sex education for potential teenage mothers; free gym membership for the obese; cognitive behavioral therapy for children who misbehave – all are inadequate and piecemeal solutions to the symptoms of a broader social malaise – inequality – says a new book by UK researchers.

bubble level argues that the income gap between the richest and the poorest in developed societies is the source of a catalog of social problems.

Furthermore, the authors insist, these problems cannot be solved without first addressing the underlying structures of inequality.

Richard Wilkinson, professor emeritus at the University of Nottingham, and his co-author Kate Pickett of the University of York argue that, throughout human history, the most effective way to increase well-being has been to increase material wealth.

But we have reached “the end of that historical journey.”

The starting point of bubble level is the suggestion that when average income levels reach a certain level – comparable to incomes in countries like Chile or Poland – increases in wealth cease to have an impact on well-being.

The book shows how inequality, not average income, is the most accurate predictor of signs of distress in developed countries: poor mental health, drug abuse, obesity, poor educational performance, teenage parenting, or violence. .

Thus, in the United States, one of the most unequal societies in the world, one in four people has mental health problems. By comparison, in more egalitarian societies like Germany, Japan and Spain, the rate is less than one in ten. This is just one of countless examples, backed by compelling data. Across all 50 US states, the pattern is the same: more equal states fare better.

The common explanation for this is that unequal societies have proportionally more poor people. But Wilkinson and Pickett argue that while these problems hit the poor hardest, the rich still suffer. This is why the super-rich in the US, UK and Portugal – three unequal societies – do not live as long as the rich in, say, Sweden, which has a more equal income distribution.

And this applies across the board. A rich kid in the UK will not achieve as many educational achievements as kids in more egalitarian European states like Belgium or Finland. At first glance, the message is clear: we all suffer from inequality.

Wilkinson and Pickett draw on a variety of evidence and theories, hypothesizing that greater inequality leads to greater “status anxiety”: our concern about our position in the world, whether we are rising or falling, whether we are winners or losers. losers. Our self-image always needs external praise to accept ourselves. Increased status anxiety leads to negative reactions such as stress and violence, and their side effects.

In offering a solution, Wilkinson and Pickett consider how some countries may have succeeded in achieving greater equality. It seems that there is no single solution. Sweden and Japan, for example, two of the most egalitarian societies, operate with completely different models.

Sweden has high taxes and redistributes wealth through a large welfare state; Japan, with some of the lowest government spending in the developed world, accomplishes the same thing by having much higher pre-tax income equality.

They also look to solutions that are already flourishing within unequal market democracies, drawing on the success of the nonprofit sector and worker cooperatives for inspiration.

Almost an agenda of results for the economy

A chapter is devoted to suggesting how this philosophy can be linked to current debates on environmental sustainability. Discussing reducing carbon emissions, they advocate a system that would make the wealthy, who inevitably spend more through increased consumption, pay their fair share.

But a more radical approach is needed. They question the entire ethic of consumerism and endless economic expansion which, they say, is largely fueled by competition for status. According to his research, cutting economic growth does not mean reductions in the quality of real life. It almost sounds like a results agenda for the economy.

The publication of the book coincides with social activism in the form of The Equality Trust to take the findings further. The trust is promoting employee-owned businesses; commissions research on equality issues, lobbies politicians and legislators, and engages with the media.

If widely corroborated, the conclusions of bubble level would have potentially far-reaching implications for prevention and early intervention efforts. The authors acknowledge that governments can cushion the impact of some of the deprivations of growing up poor, for example through high-quality social housing, health care and early childhood education.

However, they are outspoken in their criticism of interventions to tackle social problems one by one, individually.

“The unspoken hope is that people, particularly the poor, can continue in the same circumstances, but somehow no longer succumb to mental illness, teen pregnancy, educational failure, obesity or drugs.” They have no doubt that addressing inequality must be the priority before resorting to intervention programs.

They question how far we can go in helping the economically poor, without curbing the gains of the rich. Far from being an asset, it seems that the super-rich are actually a burden to the rest of us. Salary caps and more progressive taxes are a way forward. Although this may horrify supporters of neoliberal economics, Wilkinson points out that, in a curious twist of logic, equality is actually in everyone’s self-interest.

Addressing inequality is, in some ways, much simpler. It provides a universal remedy for many of society’s ills. But it involves a much bigger task. Implementing a parenting class program for children with behavioral disorders is difficult enough. Assuming inequality implies altering the values ​​of entire societies.

The bubble level: why more equal societies almost always fare better by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett is published by Allen Lane. It is also available as ePub and eBook.