Once nations are industrialized, more equal societies almost always do better in terms of health, well-being and social cohesion. Large income inequalities within societies destroys the social fabric and quality of life for everyone.
That is what the Equality Trust in the UK have found after researching numerous aspects of inequality.
They looked at a wide range of health and social problems and found that,
- Outcomes are substantially worse in more unequal societies
- The problems tend to move together, implying that they share an underlying cause
- Whether their findings are tested internationally among the rich countries, or among the 50 states of the USA, there is almost always the same tendency for outcomes to be much worse in more unequal societies.
For industrialized nations, it would seem that economic growth is therefore less important than equality when it comes to social cohesion and individual well-being.
This update includes a video describing this in further detail, as well as charts and graphs showing the relationship between various social factors and inequality.