Equality: A truly magic bullet.

By Max Lawson

A world without bars on the windows

In my life I have lived or worked in some of the world’s most unequal countries, like South Africa, and some that are much more equal (although becoming less so), like the UK. I vividly remember how it felt when I moved back to the UK after living in Kenya.

A typical house in South Africa

When you are in a country that is fairly equal, it feels so different. There are more public spaces, libraries, parks, swimming pools, sports grounds. Public schools and hospitals used by everyone, rich and poor. You notice the lack of high fences, of barbed wire, of security guards, of gated communities.  You can feel the greater level of trust, of safety, of community.

My dog Marx in our local park in London

The power of equality

Over the last ten years, it seems pretty clear that inequality and its manifold harms have become a mainstream issue. I think much less well known is the mirror of this.  The sheer power and wonderfulness of equality, of societies where the gap between rich and poor is really low.  How greater equality is the keystone of so many things that are good. It is not enough to stress not just the incredible harms wrought by inequality, but also the incredible benefits bestowed by high levels of equality.

In our Oxfam reports for Davos each year, after revealing shocking facts on the state of inequality, we identify one particular cause of growing inequality and one particular solution.  In 2023 we focused on taxing the richest.  In 2024 we focused on corporate monopoly power.  In 2025 we will focus on colonialism and the historical and modern day colonial economic structures that perpetuate economic inequality.

But I can’t help feeling that by leaping from the problem diagnosis to solutions, we can miss a key step in the middle. 

The Spirit Level

Fifteen years ago, a really important book was published called ‘The Spirit Level’.  Written by epidemiologists Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, it detailed the multiple and profound ways in which more equal societies are better societies.   It had a huge influence on me.  You can watch Richard’s brilliant TED talk on the book here.  Last month they published an update of the book, full of even more data to support their case.  They look at four areas of our common life where more equal societies deliver huge improvements. 

Equal societies have higher levels of trust and democracy…

First, social cohesion, which covers issues such as levels of trust, democracy, imprisonment, gender and racial inequality, and social mobility.  In all these areas, more equal societies are far better.  People trust each other more, democracy is stronger, fewer people are in prison, there is less racism and sexism and the chances of working-class people becoming middle class are much higher.  As Wilkinson says, the American Dream is in fact a Danish one; social mobility is far higher in Denmark than in the US.

… they are healthier and happier…

They look at health and wellbeing, covering issues such as life expectancy, obesity, and infant mortality, and also different aspects of mental health and happiness.  They show a clear link between more equal societies being much happier and healthier ones. Importantly, these findings apply to the individual rich as well as the poor.  In unequal countries, rich people too live comparatively shorter, unhealthier, and unhappier lives.

… have less child poverty and deprivation

They then look at child wellbeing and poverty; educational outcomes and inequalities are far lower in more equal countries, as is childhood poverty, and indeed poverty overall.  This echoes World Bank research that rates of poverty are lower and rates of poverty reduction much quicker in more equal societies.  This makes intuitive sense. In Vietnam nearly three times more of the national income goes to the bottom 50% than in South Africa, because Vietnam is economically much more equal.

Only equality can save our planet

This relationship between national income growth, GDP, poverty and inequality is also critically relevant to the fourth and final area they look at, the relationship between inequality and environmental problems, especially climate change.  This is something we also covered last year in our report, Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%.

Economic growth is both essential to raise incomes and end poverty in low and lower-middle income countries. But economic growth emits carbon and is driving climate breakdown at the same time. It follows that we need to squeeze every bit of positive progress out of as little growth as possible, and the key takeaway in how to do this is by reducing inequality.

At the moment economic growth is so unequally distributed that in order to raise incomes at the bottom the vast majority of income has to go those at the top, that is, the top 1% get more of income growth than the bottom 50%.  It is as if the only way to provide a cup of water to those crippled by thirst is to add fifty litres to a rich man’s swimming pool. 

However, more equal countries are able to deliver an end to poverty and decent, happier life for all their people at a far lower level of carbon than more unequal ones.

Equality also matters to how societies cope with the extreme and dangerous weather that climate breakdown is already bringing.  For example, we found that deaths from flooding are seven times higher in more unequal countries.  This also makes sense, as more equal countries have greater social cohesion, and this is critical when coming together to cope with extreme weather and climate breakdown.

Equality largely missing from debates about degrowth, well being and going beyond GDP

Given this incredibly powerful connection between equality, wellbeing and planetary survival, I am really surprised how the calls for much greater equality are not more prominent in the debates about degrowth and wellbeing economies.  Kate Raworth’s brilliant Doughnut Economics talks about a social floor, but very little about the social ceiling. This is strange, as without a huge increase in equality, it will simply not be possible to live within planetary boundaries whilst ensuring a good life for all. 

I think something powerful is being missed here.  We should all focus more in demanding that our leaders do everything they can to make our societies more equal.  That we don’t just move away from GDP as a flawed measure but, at the same time, move towards the GINI instead. Every country should have a national plan, with a clear timebound target, to reduce their level of inequality.

Oxfam proposes to reduce inequality to a level where the richest 10% get about the same income as the poorest 40% - around the level found in Norway. The whole world should. Let’s have a global target too, that the richest 10% of countries have about the same income as the bottom 40% of countries. 

Potentially a rather popular idea?

I think campaigning for more equal societies arguably has big political advantages too. Surveys show that people want a level of equality in their country that is far higher than it is, especially when they are made aware of just how bad things actually are.   A call to make society fairer, more equal, and more open to all, will potentially unite both working and middle classes, which is the opposite to what is happening now in many countries.

So why don’t we see louder demands for more equal societies? I think this could be in part because the level of inequality in your country feels fixed. Very few people ever get to truly experience everyday life in another country.  Those in more equal countries perhaps take their many benefits for granted, while those in more unequal countries have never known anything else and struggle to imagine equality.   I also think the rise of the myth of meritocracy is a lot to blame too; increasingly people, rich and poor, believe they are where they are because of their own actions.

This is why it is even more important to celebrate the wonderful benefits of equal societies. That we fire the imagination of people across the world to demand greater equality from their leaders. That inequality is perfectly possible but not inevitable, and must instead be fought hard for and, once secured, fiercely defended.

ENDS.

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Author: Max Lawson, Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam International and EQUALS podcast co-host. He is also the co-chair of the Global People’s Medicines Alliance.

Listen to our latest EQUALS episode featuring Oxfam’s new Executive Director, Amitabh Behar, and read our latest bulletin on the upcoming inequality moments that Oxfam team has been working on.

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