IMPACT OF INEQUALITY

Some facts and ideas

ANATOMY OF UK INEQUALITY

• Two nations or maybe three? - Super-rich, alienated middle, disenfranchised below that

• Poorest have got poorer

• Entrenched and persistent social exclusion

• High levels of distrust especially towards the state and big business

• History of treating symptoms, not causes

INCOME & WEALTH INEQUALITY

Income – see tables at end

Wealth – Richest 1% own 25% of UK wealth

Top 50% own 91% of UK wealth

The bottom 10% are in debt

HEALTH INEQUALITY

• In poorest neighbourhoods, people die on average 7 years earlier than in richest

• Average disability-free life expectancy – 17 years difference

• Influenced by differences in:– Smoking, diet, obesity, alcohol and drug use, patterns

of exercise– Level of medical care– Child development factors – parental depression,

being played with and read to, bedtimes• But effects of stress still exist when you equalise

all of these – affects all but the very richest

EST. COST TO SOCIETY OF MORTALITY & MORBIDITY

• Productivity loss - £31 - £33Bn p.a. in taxes

• Higher benefit payments - £20 - £32Bn p.a.

• Additional NHS costs – over £5.5Bn

EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY

• Only 32% of children with routine job parents get 5 A-C grade GCSEs (Higher prof – 77%)

• 22% of employers unwilling to consider employing jobseekers with less

• A persistent 13-14% get less than this at any grade

• Those with lowest achievements are more likely to be - male, poor, single-parent, many siblings, free school meals, truants

GENDER, DISABILITY, ETHNICITY

• All to some extent linked with unequal school attainment – for instance: – Girls already doing far better in school by 5

years. Curriculum seems to favour them– Four fifths of young people with special needs

have been bullied & bullying strongly affects attainment

– Cultural context affects achievement - some ethnic groupings vastly underachieve: others over-achieve compared with average

EDUCATIONAL IMPACT

• Unemployment linked to poorer health (mental and physical), higher mortality

• Poorer types of employment lead to low pay, unhealthy conditions, insecurity, stressful conditions, less control

• Therefore societal costs/ opportunity costs:– Lost productivity + health effects + “problems”

in society

For instance - PRISON POPULATIONS & SELF-REPORTED CRIMINALITY

• Correlations with: – Male, unemployment, low income, low

educational achievement, ethnic minority, strained family relations, drugs and heavy drinking, mental health history, friends & family involved with police, truancy, habit of bullying others

HOW DOES INEQUALITY WORK?

• Many inter-related factors create self- reinforcement and hard-to-break patterns

• Seem to be strong correlations between high levels of inequality and low levels of social capital and trust – everyone feels the stress

• Greater inequality appears to create overall worse outcomes for the whole of a society. There are costs to almost everyone in terms of stress, violence, social costs, worse comparisons with more equal societies on all fronts

WHAT’S BEHIND STRESS?

• Consumerism and celebrity culture• Choice – (A luxury of the wealthy?)• Self-interest leads to competitive, stress-

inducing behaviour, leads to stress hormones• Social divisions rigid - segregation,

antagonistism, anger, victimhood• Stress in growing proportion as the rich move up

and popular culture reveals their life-styles

POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES FOR INTERVENTION

• Direct versus indirect? “Obliquity” – financial rewards and happiness as by-products of actions that benefit others

• Linking social capital (between social groups) versus bonding social capital (within groups)

• Bottom-up versus top-down• Small pots locally versus big programmes

nationally• Broadening or changing roles of professionals &

institutions – recognise interconnections

CITIZENS’ ROLE IN SOCIETY Impact of different groups

Level of Capability•Education

•Buying power

•Resourceful-ness

High

Low

Low HighDegree of Willingness to make

contribution to wider society

DISENGAGED OR DISENFRANCHISED

Net cost to society or fall through cracks

CAPABLE INDIVIDUALISTS

Impact neutral – little cost to society, but little contribution

WILLING & ACTIVE CITIZENS

Net contributors

WILLING BUT NOT ACTIVE

Potential resource – realised the problems, want to help solve them

FACTORS INFLUENCING ROLE SHIFTScope for action

CapabilityEducation

Buying power

Resourceful-ness

High

Low

Low HighWillingness

DISENGAGED

Net cost to society or fall through cracks

CAPABLE INDIVIDUALISTS

Impact neutral

WILLING & ACTIVE CITIZENS

Net contributors

WILLING BUT NOT ENGAGED

Potential resource

Moment of truth through catalytic events, professionals and local community leaders

SSE & other Bottom up Initiatives - learning, reflection & experimentation, supported by facilitation and small investments

Inducements - self-interest Reinforcement

Arrows show scope for movement