Culture, Equality and Mental Health – Prof Kate Pickett & Prof Richard Wilkinson

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Why is the incidence of mental illness in the UK twice that in Germany? Why are Americans three times more likely than the Dutch to develop gambling problems? Why is child well-being so much worse in New Zealand than Japan? The answer to all of these questions, hinges on inequality.

This talk will explore how inequality affects us individually, how it alters how we think, feel and behave. You’ll learn about the overwhelming evidence showing that material inequalities have powerful psychological effects: when the gap between rich and poor increases, so does the tendency to define and value ourselves and others in terms of superiority and inferiority. The speakers will then go on to demonstrate that societies based on fundamental equalities, sharing and reciprocity generate much higher levels of well-being, and lay out a path towards making them a reality.


Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York and leads the Public Health and Society research group. She is the co-author of The Spirit Level and The Inner Level, with Richard Wilkinson, and her work addresses the social determinants of health and well-being. She was a National Institute for Health Research Career Scientist from 2007-2012, is a Fellow of the RSA and a Fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health.

Richard Wilkinson is a British social epidemiologist, author, advocate, and political activist. He is Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, having retired in 2008. He is also Honorary Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London and Visiting Professor at University of York. In 2009, Richard co-founded The Equality Trust and was awarded the Charles Cully Memorial Medal in 2014 by the Irish Cancer Society.

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