Equal societies are safer and happier

Equality – not just overall wealth – matters. 

“The big idea is that what matters in determining mortality and health in a society is less the overall wealth of that society and more how evenly wealth is distributed. The more equally wealth is distributed the better the health of that society.”

Richard Wilson and Kate Pickett
The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone

2016 research by Simon Pemberton looked at a wide range of harms – including murder, suicide, road accidents, infant mortality as well as harms such as poverty, social isolation, long working hours and youth unemployment -across 31 countries. He found that highly individualistic societies with minimal welfare safety nets and privatised and means tested social services suffered the greatest amount of harm. Whereas societies where there are low levels of inequality, generous welfare provision and also high employment rights and support for union membership had the lowest incident of harms.