Documents Pickett, Kate 9 results

"Pourquoi les Japonais vivent-ils plus longtemps que les Américains ? Pourquoi y a-t-il plus de grossesses chez les adolescentes aux États-Unis qu'en France ? Pourquoi les Suédois ont-ils la taille plus fine que les Grecs ? La réponse est chaque fois : l'inégalité. État de santé, espérance de vie, obésité, santé mentale, taux d'incarcération ou d'homicide, toxicomanie, grossesses précoces, succès ou échecs scolaires, bilan carbone et recyclage des déchets, tous les chiffres vont dans le même sens : l'inégalité des revenus nuit de manière flagrante au bien-être de tous.

Conclusion des auteurs : «Ce n'est pas la richesse qui fait le bonheur des sociétés, mais l'égalité des conditions.»"

"Objectives. We investigated whether the processes underlying the association between income inequality and population health are related to those responsible for the socioeconomic gradient in health and whether health disparities are smaller when income differences are narrower.

Methods. We used multilevel models in a regression analysis of 10 age- and cause-specific US county mortality rates on county median household incomes and on state income inequality. We assessed whether mortality rates more closely related to county income were also more closely related to state income inequality. We also compared mortality gradients in more- and less-equal states.

Results. Mortality rates more strongly associated with county income were more strongly associated with state income inequality: across all mortality rates, r= –0.81; P=.004. The effect of state income inequality on the socioeconomic gradient in health varied by cause of death, but greater equality usually benefited both wealthier and poorer counties.

Conclusions. Although mortality rates with steep socioeconomic gradients were more sensitive to income distribution than were rates with flatter gradients, narrower income differences benefit people in both wealthy and poor areas and may, paradoxically, do little to reduce health disparities."

"When the empirical evidence of the effects of inequality was confined to health, it was reasonable to think that we should not assume that inequality had any psychosocial effects before we eliminated other possible explanations. But since then the evidence base has grown. It is now clear that unequal societies have an increased prevalence of a host of social problems, including violence, bullying, teenage births, higher rates of imprisonment, low educational performance, reduced social mobility, low levels of trust, and longer working hours. Insofar as these are behavioural outcomes, they provide strong evidence that psychosocial processes are associated with inequality.
The benefits of greater equality tend to be largest among the poor but seem to extend to almost everyone. A more equal society might improve most people's quality of life. Rather than merely paying lip service to creating a "classless society," it is a task for politicians and policy experts to repair our "broken society" by undoing the widening of inequalities that has taken place since the 1970s.”

"AIM:To examine the association of social ties and income with self reported health, in order to investigate if social ties have a greater impact on the health of people on low incomes compared to those financially better off.
METHODS:A nationally representative cross-sectional study of 5205 French adults using data from questionnaires which asked about health, income and relationships with family and friends etc.
RESULTS:Less than good self-rated health (SRH) is twice as frequently reported by people in the lowest income group than those in the highest income group. People with low incomes are also more likely to have felt alone on the previous day, received no phone call during the last week, have no friends, not be a member of a club, and to live alone. Socially isolated people report lower SRH. Likelihood ratio tests for interaction vs. main effect models were statistically significant for 2 of the measures of social ties, borderline for 2 others and non-significant for one. For 4 of the 5 indicators of social ties, larger odd ratios show that social isolation is more strongly associated with less than good SRH among people on low incomes compared to those with a higher income.
CONCLUSION:Social isolation is associated with 'less than good' self-rated health. This effect appears to be more important for people on a low income."

"The book details the "pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, (and) encouraging excessive consumption." Based on thirty years of research, it claims that for each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being, outcomes are substantially worse in more unequal rich countries. Statistics are given for 23 of the top 50 rich countries and also for 50 states of the United States of America. The book contains extensive graphs and charts, also available online."

"The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a detailed dashboard of goals, targets and indicators. In this paper we investigate alternative methods to relate the SDGs to overall measures of sustainable wellbeing that can motivate and guide the process of global societal change. We describe what a Sustainable Wellbeing Index (SWI) that connects with and complements the SDG dashboard might look like. We first investigate several options for how to construct such an index and then discuss what is needed to build consensus around it. Finally, we propose linking the SDGs and our SWI with a comprehensive systems dynamics model that can track stocks and flows and make projections into the future under different policy scenarios."