'How inequality divides us'

'More equal' societies like Japan were said to come out best

Professor Richard Wilkinson delivered the first in a new series of BBC Wales regeneration lectures at Cardiff University.

In the lecture, he argued that greater inequality damages the quality of social relations throughout society - violence increases; people trust each other less and community life weakens.

And the professor believes more unequal societies become riddled with competition over status and most of the problems of deprived areas get worse.

He said: "What really matters about income is how big the divisions between us are, whether the differences make us feel we belong to different classes, winners and losers, superior and inferior, or whether we feel we are broadly equals."

Professor Wilkinson (left) with Professor Gareth Williams from Cardiff University

Professor Wilkinson, professor of social epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and author of The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier, said that in the rich countries it was the more equal societies - like Sweden or Japan - which came out best in all sorts of ways.

He said people lived longer, there was less violence, children did better at school, fewer people ended up in prison and there were fewer teenage births.

"Why does the USA have the highest homicide rates, the highest teenage pregnancy rates, the highest rates of imprisonment, and comes about 26th in the international league table of life expectancy?

'Network of friends'

"It's because it also has the biggest income differences.

"Low social status and inequality are bad for us because they increase our sense of insecurity and our worries about how we are seen.

"In contrast, a good network of friends makes us feel better, and also help us deal with worries and anxieties.

"Friends come into the picture because they give you positive feedback: they enjoy your company, laugh at your jokes, seek your advice, etc.

"In contrast, not having friends, feeling excluded, and thinking people avoid sitting next to you, fills most of us with self-doubt.

"We worry about being unattractive, boring, unintelligent, socially inept, and so on.

"Perhaps the underlying message is that the most widespread and potent kind of stress in modern societies centres on our anxieties about how others see us, on our self-doubts and social insecurities.

"We all want to feel valued and appreciated, but too many people are made to feel looked down on and disrespected."

The next regeneration lecture is on 3 May. For tickets email [e-mail]