1. Health:

Life expectancy is shorter and mortality rates are higher in more unequal societies – this applies to both the poor and, perhaps surprisingly, also to the rich in these societies. Rates of infant mortality, mental illness and obesity are also two to four times higher. In more unequal developing and developed countries, HIV infection prevalence rates are higher.

2. Social relationships:

Levels of social cohesion, including trust and social capital, are lower in more unequal societies. Indicators of women’s status and equality also tend to be worse. More unequal societies have more property crime and violence, especially homicides.

3. Human capital development:

Scores on the UNICEF index of child well-being are significantly worse in unequal countries and decline as inequality rises. Maths and literacy scores are also lower and more young people drop out of education, employment and training, and more teenage girls become mothers. Social mobility is restricted by inequality – equality of opportunity is increased by greater equality of outcomes. More equal countries tend to have higher rates of innovation, probably because of greater social mobility.

4. Economic progress and stability

Poverty reduction is compromised by income inequality. The International Monetary Fund states that reducing inequality and bolstering longer-term economic growth may be “two sides of the same coin”. In rich and poor countries, inequality is strongly correlated with shorter spells of economic expansion and less growth over time. Inequality is associated with more frequent and more severe boom-and-bust cycles that make economies more volatile and vulnerable to crisis.

5. Sustainable economies

Inequality drives status competition, which drives personal debt and consumerism. More equal societies promote the common good – they recycle more, spend more on foreign aid, score higher on the Global Peace Index. Business leaders in more equal countries rate international environmental agreements more highly. Inequities between countries are impairing cooperation between nations and the development of international environmental agreements on climate change.

For real improvements in worldwide population well-being we need more equal societies, which are best achieved by putting democracy at the heart of economic policy and practice. Alongside international and national efforts to create progressive tax regimes and deal with tax avoidance and tax havens, the extension of democracy into economic institutions can have a major impact in reducing inequality. There are a number of simple, feasible measures that nations can take to grow equality alongside economic democracy.

Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/5-reasons-why-we-need-to-reduce-global-inequality/