A Fair Future? How Equality Will Define Europe's Next Chapter

Inequality fuels crisis — for people, planet, democracy and the next generation. It’s time to act.

https://www.socialeurope.eu/a-fair-future-how-equality-will-define-europes-next-chapter



Fifteen years ago, Richard Wilkinson and I drew attention to the profound damage caused to population health, people’s life chances and social cohesion by socioeconomic inequality. We spent the next decade discovering the ways in which inequality caused those problems through the ways in which social hierarchies impact status anxieties and chronic stress. Inequality fosters a culture of competition rather than collaboration, leading to social distancing and insecurity, which heightens violence and psychological vulnerabilities. We have consistently found that more equal societies, which nurture sharing and reciprocity, produce much higher levels of all kinds of wellbeing than those based on excessive individualism, competitiveness and social aggression. From rising mental health problems and social disconnection to higher crime rates and poorer physical health, inequality tears apart the social fabric. It erodes trust, diminishes social mobility, and fuels perceptions of unfairness.

We hoped, of course, that by publishing our findings, politicians and policymakers would take the evidence on board, focus on equality and implement redistributive policies. Instead, across much of Europe, what followed was austerity, a global pandemic, conflict and a cost of living crisis. Rather than a hopeful era of progressive politics, we have witnessed a worrying rise in political extremism, populism, and distrust in democratic institutions. While many factors contribute to this shift, inequality sits at the heart of it.

Last year, we re-ran our analyses and found, yet again, that inequality is not just an economic issue – it’s a social, health, and environmental crisis with profound implications for the future of our societies. We found critical linkages between social inequality and planetary health: environmental harm often exacerbates existing social disparities. The most vulnerable populations – those with the least resources and political power – bear the brunt of climate change, pollution, and resource depletion, despite contributing the least to environmental degradation. We know that economic inequalities influence consumption patterns, access to clean water, air quality, and exposure to climate-related risks, creating a vicious cycle of injustice. It is clear that addressing inequality is not only, as it has always been, a moral imperative but also essential for achieving a just transition to sustainability, where both people and planet can thrive.

Just as worryingly, as income and wealth inequality increase across societies, social cohesion deteriorates, and populism grows. Economic inequality also intersects with and deepens inequalities related to race and gender, reinforcing discrimination and marginalization. High levels of inequality erode trust within and between communities, weakening social bonds and reducing trust in public institutions, which hampers effective governance. It also concentrates political power among the wealthy, threatening democratic integrity by enabling elites to oppose reforms that could promote fairness, inequality is undermining our democracy.

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