How to get closer together: impacts of income inequality and policy responses

Abstract

Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in The Spirit Level (2010) have documented the relationship between income inequality and health and social dysfunction across 25 developed countries including New Zealand, and summarised their findings in their Index of Health and Social Problems (IHSP). The results of this work show that New Zealand is performing poorly in comparison to countries with lower levels of income inequality. Their research has prompted debate in New Zealand (see Policy Quarterly issues of May and August 2011), and an example of the influence of their work can be seen in the references and measures chosen for the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework released in May 2011.