Spirit Level,The: Why Equality Is Better For Everyone

Why Do We Mistrust People More In The Uk Than In Japan? Why Do Americans Have Higher Rates Of Teenage Pregnancy Than The French? What Makes The Swedish Thinner Than The Greeks? The Answer: Inequality. This Groundbreaking Book, Based On Years Of Research, Provides Hard Evidence To Show: How Almost Everything - From Life Expectancy To Depression Levels, Violence To Illiteracy - Is Affected Not By How Wealthy A Society Is, But How Equal It Is; That Societies With A Bigger Gap Between Rich And Poor Are Bad For Everyone In Them - Including The Well-off; And, How We Can Find Positive Solutions And Move Towards A Happier, Fairer Future. Urgent, Provocative And Genuinely Uplifting, The Spirit Level Has Been Heralded As Providing A New Way Of Thinking About Ourselves And Our Communities, And Could Change The Way You See The World. -- Book Cover. Part I. Material Success, Social Failure. 1. The End Of An Era -- 2. Poverty Or Inequality? -- 3. How Inequality Gets Under The Skin --- Part Ii. 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 --- Part Iii. A Better Society. 13. Dysfunctionial Societies -- 14. Our Social Inheritance -- 15. Equality And Sustainability -- 16. Building The Future. Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett. Originally Published: London: Allen Lane, 2009. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.