In their influential and award-winning 2009 book The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson argue that societies with the biggest gaps between the rich and the rest are bad for everyone, including those who are most well off.
They contend that everything from life expectancy, mental illness and obesity to violence and illiteracy is affected not by the wealth of a society, but its level of equality and propose solutions to move towards a future that is both fairer and happier.
In this session from the Policy Institute and the Fairness Foundation, we revisited The Spirit Level and its lasting impact on how we think about inequality.
Speakers:
- David Aaronovitch, Journalist, presenter and author
- Paul Drechsler CBE, Chair, International Chamber of Commerce and BusinessLDN and former President of the Confederation of British Industry
- Bobby Duffy, Director, the Policy Institute at King's (Chair)
- Kate Pickett OBE, Professor of Epidemiology, University of York, and co-author of The Spirit Level
- Lucinda Platt, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology, LSE
- Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology, University of Nottingham, and co-author of The Spirit Level
28 ноя 2023
