Professor Richard Wilkinson, who co-wrote The Spirit Level with Professor Kate Pickett, will be appearing as the guest expert at the next Oldham Fairness Commission (OFC) discussing income inequalities, which will take place on Friday 4th April, from 12.30 to 14.00pm at Shaw and Crompton Parish Council, 1 Kershaw Street East, Oldham, OL2 8AB.

The evidence Richard and Kate have brought together from across the world demonstrates how life expectancy, mental health, educational performance, social mobility, and crime reflects the gap between rich and poor. The bigger the gap, the lower your life expectancy, the poorer your mental health and the less socially mobile communities are. The smaller the gap, the longer you are more likely to live, etcetera.

In Oldham men from lower income backgrounds die up to ten years younger than those in more affluent parts of the borough.

Professor Wilkinson said, “The coalition government has failed to reverse the continuing tendency for the richest 1% to get richer faster than the rest of society. It is hard to think of a more powerful way of telling people at the bottom that they are almost worthless than to pay them one-third of one percent of what the CEO in the same company gets. Politicians must recognise that reducing inequality is about improving the psychosocial wellbeing of the whole society.”

The video below was recorded during the launch of the Oldham Fairness Commission.

If you would like more information on the work of the Commission visit the Oldham Fairness Commission page here.