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Dec

On the level

Richard Wilkinson along with Kate Pickett is the author of the Spirit Level. In the book he pulls together years of research from around the world to argue a very strong case for a more equal society. He proves that its not the size or rate of growth of a countries economy thats important, certainly not in the more advanced societies. The important thing is the gap between the top and bottom twenty percent of earners. At almost every level he shows that the bigger the gap the more teenage pregnancies, violent crime, prison population and just about every other negative indicator. Societies with a bigger gap between rich and poor are proportionally disfunctional. To test his hypothesis he checked the figures using American states and got the same results. This brilliant book has been translated into numerous languages and is being recognised by politicians in the UK too. Whilst the Uk government continues to haggle with the employees of the banks we own over the size of bonuses Mike Dawson spoke to Richard in depth about his findings. He also explored how this theory applies to our local community. They also discuss the Equality Trust set up by Richard to promote this information and how you can get involved. Click below to listen here or download and there are links for further information.