inequality & child wellbeing: from macro to micro kate pickett & richard wilkinson...
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Inequality & Child Wellbeing:
from Macro to Micro
Kate Pickett
&
Richard Wilkinson
Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Income per head and life-expectancy: rich & poor countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Health is related to income differences within rich societies but not to those between them
Within societiesBetween (rich) societies
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
Electoral wards in England & Wales ranked by deprivation score
Life
exp
ecta
ncy
(yea
rs)
Mostdeprived
www.equalitytrust.org.uk
The UNICEF Index of Child Well-being, 2007
Child-Wellbeing is Unrelated to Average Incomes in Rich Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Child Well-being is Better in More Equal Rich Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
How much richer are the richest 20% than the poorest 20%?
www.equalitytrust.org.ukSource: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)
Child wellbeing and income inequality in US States
Correlations and p-values Income inequality Average income
Foundation for Child Development 25-item index 0.43
(0.002)
-0.61
(<0.001)
Kids Count 10-item index (shown in graph) 0.51
(<0.001)
-0.53
(<0.001)
Infant Mortality Rates are Higher in More Unequal Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
More children are overweight in more unequal countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)
More children are overweight in more unequal US states
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)
Educational Scores are Higher in More Equal Rich Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
More Children Drop Out of High School in More Unequal US States
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Teenage Birth Rates are Higher in More Unequal Rich Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Teen Pregnancy Rates are Higher in More Unequal US States
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Children Experience More Conflict in More Unequal Societies
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)
11, 13 & 15 yr olds fighting, bullying, and finding peers not kind & helpful
www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Social Mobility is Higher in More Equal Rich Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Source: Frank Elgar, in press
Income inequality and school bullying by 11-year-olds in 37 countries (r = .62)
Child outcomes related to income inequality
• In rich countries– Infant mortality– Low birth weight– Overweight– Educational
achievement– Peer relations– Bullying– Teenage births– Social mobility
• In US states– Infant mortality– Low birth weight– Overweight– Educational
achievement– Mental health
problems– Teenage pregnancy– Juvenile homicides
Surprises
• “Low aspirations” are more common in more equal societies– But educational achievement is higher….
• “Feeling lonely” is more common in more equal societies– But child conflict and peer relationships are
better….
Literacy Scores of 16-25 year olds by Parents' Education
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Parents' Education (years)
Lit
erac
y sc
ore
Sweden
Canada
United States
Source: Willms JD. 1997. Data from OECD Programme for International Student Assessment.
0
5
10
15
Singlemothers
Low HighFather's social class
Infa
nt
de
ath
s p
er
10
00 England & Wales Sweden
0
5
10
15
Singlemothers
Low HighFather's social class
Infa
nt
de
ath
s p
er
10
00 England & Wales Sweden
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009) www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Infant mortality rates by social class
A UK Index of Child Well-beingTable 2: 20 Local authority districts with the lowest and highest average score on child well-being
Lowest well-being Highest well-being
354 Manchester 1 Hart
353 Tower Hamlets 2 Ribble Valley
352 Liverpool 3 Mid Sussex
351 Islington 4 East Hertfordshire
350 Hackney 5 Rutland
349 Kingston upon Hull, City of 6 Waverley
348 Southwark 7 Wokingham
347 Birmingham 8 South Northamptonshire
346 Nottingham 9 Surrey Heath
345 Middlesbrough 10 Horsham
344 Lambeth 11 Chiltern
343 Leicester 12 Elmbridge
342 Newcastle upon Tyne 13 Mid Bedfordshire
341 Haringey 14 South Cambridgeshire
340 Sandwell 15 West Oxfordshire
339 Knowsley 16 St Albans
338 Barking and Dagenham 17 Fareham
337 Lewisham 18 Congleton
336 Newham 19 Rushcliffe
335 Bradford 20 Uttlesford
Inequalities become entrenched early in life
• Cognitive scores at 3 years of age (MCS)
• Children with the most educated parents 12 months ahead of those with the least educated parents
• Children in families with incomes below our poverty line had scores
about 8 months behind those with incomes above it
• White children about half a month ahead of the all-UK average, followed by children from a mixed ethnic background, about half a month behind
• Bangladeshi and Pakistani children lowest vocabulary scores, with averages around 35, characteristic of the lowest tenth in the population at large
http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk
Why are children so sensitive to inequality?
• Effects of relative poverty on material resources?
• Impact on family life and relationships?
• Direct awareness of increased status differentiation?
Inequality affects family life & relationships
Source: Bowles S, Park Y. Economic Journal 2005; 115 (507): F397–F412. 2005.
• Income inequality is associated with:– Longer working hours– Divorce rates (US
counties)– Shorter parental leave– Adult mental health &
drug use
A two stage process: parental experiences of inequality shape child development
Parenting styles prepare children for the kind of social relations they may have to deal with in adulthood
Preparation for a society dependent on:- • trust, cooperation, reciprocity, empathy?
or:• fending for yourself, not trusting others?
A mother who goaded her two toddlers to fight each other on video camera has received a 12-month suspended sentence, along with her mother and two sisters.
Zara Olver, 21, her 48-year-old mother Carole, and sisters Serenza Olver, 29, and Danielle Olver, 19, all admitted child cruelty at Plymouth Crown Court.
In the footage, a boy in a nappy was called a "wimp" for not hitting his sister back after she struck him.
The women laughed as the children hit each other with brushes and magazines.
But the footage was found by chance by the toddlers' father, on leave from the army, and he told social services.
The boy, aged two, is seen crying after being punched in the face by his three-year-old sister and is told by one of the four women in the room "not to be a wimp or a faggot" and to hit the girl back.
The court heard that, when interviewed by police, Carole Olver said: "I didn't see any harm in toughening them up - I done the same with my own children."
The Effect of Caste Identity on Children's Performance
Caste Unannounced
Caste Announced
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
High Caste
Low Caste
Num
ber
of m
azes
sol
ved
Source: Hoff K, Pandey P, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3351, June 2004
Status differentiation has a direct effect on cognitive performance
What can be done? …cont
At the local level it is about people feeling valued – in all contexts:
• school, • work, • family, • among friends
Early childhood: support for least well-off families
The social environment in schools
Outcomes of a home-visiting intervention
Olds et al. Pediatrics 2002;110;486-496
Trends in income inequality 1979-2005/6
Adapted from: Brewer M, Goodman A, Muriel A, Sibieta L. Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2007. Institute of Fiscal
Studies, London.
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Thatcher Major Blair
Ris
ing
ga
p b
etw
ee
n r
ich
an
d p
oo
r, r
ela
tiv
e t
o 1
97
5
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk
Social status affect brain chemistry and behaviour in monkeys
• Living in social groupsincreased “happy” brain chemicals in dominant monkeys but producedno change in subordinate monkeys.
• These neurobiological changes had an important behaviouralinfluence
• When given access to cocaine, dominant monkeys took less than subordinates
Source: Morgan, D et al. Nature Neuroscience 2002; 5(2), 169-174.
Pickett KE, Wilkinson RG, Wakshlag LS. Forthcoming.
Smoking in pregnancy in the Millennium Cohort
percent
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