The quality of social relations is worse in less equal societies. Evidence on inequality in relation to trust, community life and violence (see separate section on violence) all tell the same story. Inequality divides people by increasing the social distances between us and widening differences in living standards and lifestyles. By increasing residential segregation of rich and poor, it also increases physical distances.
Governments and policy makers are increasingly interested in "social capital" or social cohesion, trust, and involvement in community life. Everyone knows these are an important part of the quality of life and make a difference to what a society feels like to live in, but there has been little recognition that greater equality is an important pre-condition for strengthening community life.
People trust each other most in the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands; just within the rich market democracies there are at least five-fold differences in levels of trust, and researchers have shown repeatedly that high levels of trust are linked to low levels of inequality, both internationally and among the 50 US states, and that trust is linked to health and well-being.
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Notes on statistical sources and methods
For more information:
Chapter 2 of: Wilkinson RG. The Impact of Inequality: how to make sick societies healthier. New Press, New York, and Routledge, London. 2005
Uslaner E. The moral foundations of trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Kawachi I, Kennedy BP, Lochner K, Prothrow-Stith D. Social capital, income inequality and mortality. American Journal of Public Health 1997; 87: 1491-8.
Putnam RD. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000.
Putnam RD. web sites on social capital:
Wilkinson RG, Pickett KE. The Spirit Level. Penguin. 2009. Buy the book from Amazon.
