News / Talk on why equality is ‘better for everyone’
A SENIOR researcher from the Equality Trust will be in Shetland to give two presentations related to the hugely successful book ‘The Spirit Level’ early next week.
Madeleine Power will discuss the findings of the influential 2009 book, written by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, which highlights the “pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness and encouraging excessive consumption”.
Power will visit the islands to deliver a seminar to the Shetland Partnership Board, which includes representatives of key public bodies including NHS Shetland and Shetland Islands Council, on the afternoon of Tuesday 2 September. She will then give a public presentation in Room 16 at Islesburgh starting at 7pm that evening.
Speaking ahead of the talk, Power said: “The UK is one of the developed world’s most unequal countries. An economic chasm has appeared between the people at the top and the rest, and the impact on our economy is increasingly obvious.
“One in five workers in the UK is now low-paid, one of the worst rates among OECD countries. Many of the jobs people find themselves in effectively trap them in poverty; in fact the majority of people in poverty are now in working households.
“But the implications go much further than financial concerns. Studies have shown how more unequal countries have worse life expectancy, health, educational outcomes, social mobility and crime. In 2014, the UK faces a culture of huge inequality in pay, wealth and power that threatens to destabilise not only our economy, but our wider society as well.
“In this talk I hope to outline how inequality has changed, some of the drivers behind this, the effect inequality has had on us all, and some of the ways we may look to reduce it.”
Shetland Partnership Board chairman Ian Kinniburgh said the talk would help policy makers and individuals understand the importance of addressing inequality.
Kinniburgh said: “Shetland is enjoying a period of prosperity and many Shetlanders are experiencing an excellent quality of life at the moment. There are, however, within our community a number of folk who are not so fortunate and for whom the poverty gap is widening.
“This inequality is believed to contribute to much poorer outocmes in life for these individuals or families and it is important that we better understand the hidden effects of inequality so that we can look to positively influence our community to achieve a fairer society.
“‘The Spirit Level’ appears to present some compelling evidence that we should take heed of.”
The book ‘The Spirit Level: Why is equality better for everyone?’ has sold more than 150,000 copies.
It uses extensive research from the Equality Trust to show that for each of 11 different health and social problems, outcomes are “significantly worse” in more unequal rich countries.
They are: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being.
- For a more detailed explanation of the Equality Trust’s work, and the specific findings of ‘The Spirit Level’, you can visit www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/spirit-level
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