The Spirit Level

Large inequalities of income in a society have often been regarded as divisive and corrosive, and it is common knowledge that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. This groundbreaking book, based on thirty years' research, demonstrates that more unequal societies are bad for almost everyone within them - the well-off as well as the poor. The remarkable data the book lays out and the measures it uses are like a spirit level which we can hold up to compare the conditions of different societies. The differences revealed, even between rich market democracies, are striking.Almost every modern social and environmental problem - ill-health, lack of community life, violence, drugs, obesity, mental illness, long working hours, big prison populations - is more likely to occur in a less equal society. The book goes to the heart of the apparent contrast between the material success and social failings of many modern societies. "The Spirit Level" does not simply provide a key to diagnosing our ills. It tells us how to shift the balance from self-interested 'consumerism' to a friendlier and more collaborative society. It shows a way out of the social and environmental problems which beset us and opens up a major new approach to improving the real quality of life, not just for the poor but for everyone. It is, in its conclusion, an optimistic book, which should revitalise politics and provide a new way of thinking about how we organise human communities.

ISBN 1846140390   Pages 352 ISBN13 9781846140396 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 494 Publisher Penguin Books Ltd   Published in London Imprint Allen Lane   Height (mm) 222 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 144 Publication date 05 Mar 2009   Spine width (mm) 33 DEWEY 305   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

		Preface
		Note on Graphs
Pt. 1		Material Success, Social Failure
1		The end of an era
2		Poverty or inequality?
3		How inequality gets under the skin
Pt. 2		The Costs of Inequality
4		Community life and social relations
5		Mental health and drug use
6		Physical health and life expectancy
7		Obesity: wider income gaps, wider waists
8		Educational performance
9		Teenage births: recycling deprivation
10		Violence: gaining respect
11		Imprisonment and punishment
12		Social mobility: unequal opportunities
Pt. 3		A Better Society
13		Dysfunctional societies
14		Our social inheritance
15		Equality and sustainability
16		Building the future
		Appendix
		References
		Index

'A profoundly important book whose findings challenge the preference for growth over equality' Richard Layard

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