Thanks for reading.
Not much happened last week, did it? Looks like this week might turn out differently…
Today we’re thinking about the many ways in which a fairer society would benefit everyone, and not just those who are most disadvantaged by the status quo. We’ve even come up with a mnemonic for them: HOPE RISES. Read on to find out more.
We’re also bringing back poll of the week, which has been dormant since Easter, by popular demand. Thanks to the 91% of respondents to our survey who said that they would recommend Fair Comment to a friend or colleague. Please do share it with anyone who you think might enjoy it.
Will Snell
Chief Executive Fairness Foundation
PS: if you haven’t yet done so, please sign up to get Fair Comment in your inbox every Monday.
A fair society is in everyone’s interests
H
Harmony. In prehistory, humans flourished by building large social groups that depend on co-operation, which is sustained by fairness: equalising rewards across a group, sharing resources fairly and punishing selfish behaviour. Societies that do not uphold this inbuilt sense of fairness become more divided and turbulent, and less successful. Many collapse (look at the Roman Empire).
O
Opportunity. Fair opportunities benefit everyone by removing the pressure of competing for a small number of elite educational institutions, both because there are less differences in quality between institutions and because there are more good job opportunities to follow them. As a result, parents don’t have to make huge efforts or sacrifices to secure coveted places for their children.
P
Politics. Unfairness undermines healthy democracies by giving the wealthy excessive political influence, undermining democratic principles (including the rights to vote, to run for office, and to free speech and assembly), and creating dangerous divisions in society. It also undermines faith in the democratic system itself; if people do not have a fair opportunity to make the most of their lives, they are more likely to be attracted to populists or even to extremists.
E
Equality. Social problems are worse in more unequal societies. Many affect everyone, such as high levels of crime and low levels of trust, social cohesion and mental health. Inequality leads to levels of infant mortality that are higher among wealthy Britons than, for example, poorer Swedes.
R
Risk reduction. Fair societies provide universal, reciprocal, collective insurance systems to protect everyone against the risk of suffering bad luck, such as serious disease or loss of employment. They ensure that major costs such as social care are shared fairly rather than falling entirely on individuals.
I
Institutions. A fairer society based on much lower levels of inequality than we see today is necessary to support effective social, economic and political institutions, which are themselves needed to protect and advance many of the other public goods outlined here.
S
Security. People living in fair societies don’t have to accrue private wealth (such as through housing) to ensure that they and their children will be able to withstand shocks or to get on in life. They feel less pressure to pass down inherited wealth to their children as the only guarantee of security. Unequal societies create vicious circles in which people maximise their own wealth in order to protect their loved ones.
E
Efficiency. Unfair societies harm economic growth because they undermine efficient markets. The poor don’t spend money while the rich hoard it offshore. The link between hard work and reward is corrupted when a lot of wealth is unearned, failure is rewarded and fair and open competition is undermined. High levels of inequality dampen both demand and output. Fairer societies are more efficient, more productive and more prosperous.
S
Social mobility. The ‘Great Gatsby curve’ shows that, as economic equality decreases, so does social mobility. In very unequal societies it is much harder for people to move up the ‘ladder’, because the rungs are further apart. The consequences of moving down the ‘ladder’ are also much more serious.
Poll of the week
What other benefits of a fair society can you think of?
Have we missed anything in our list above? Please send us your suggestions (just words, not descriptions) and we’ll publish the results next week.
Reads of the week
“Large gaps by background remain in the likelihood of climbing the income ladder, ending up in a higher social class, or securing a university degree”. The Sutton Trust have published a review of social mobility research to mark their 25th anniversary.
“Only until we address the imbalances in power that entrench low real pay will we secure an economy that is sustainable and run in the interests of everyone, not just the few.” David Spencer at the University of Leeds writes in The Conversation about why wages are not keeping up with inflation.
"You have the perfect storm where we have the most need but the least capacity to deal with it. It creates inequity and actually perpetuates it.” Nick Triggle at the BBC reports on research by the Nuffield Trust showing that a shortage of GPs has left some areas of England having to cope with half the number of doctors than other areas.
Fairness Foundation updates
Thanks to everyone who completed our Fair Comment reader survey a couple of weeks ago.
91% of respondents said they would be likely or very likely to recommend it to a friend or colleague, with 37% agreeing that ‘it helps me to think about fairness in relation to my own work’, 27% saying ‘I have a general interest in how fairness relates to topical issues’, and 30% commenting that ‘it highlights people and organisations that I haven’t come across’.
Suggestions for improvements included inviting more contributors from a wider range of backgrounds (we’re working on that), and bringing back the regular polls (tick).
If you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see done (or done differently) in Fair Comment, please let us know.
And if you missed last week’s issue on the results of our public attitudes research, you can read it here.
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Please suggest anything we should include in (or change about) Fair Comment.
You can read all of the previous editions of Fair Comment on our website.
