JustShare to debate childhood inequality

Does inequality really affect young people growing up today and deny them a good childhood? And if so, what are the consequences for the future? These and many more questions will be asked at the next JustShare debate, "The Impact of Inequality on Childhood", at St Mary-le-Bow Church in central London on 4 December.

JustShare is a coalition of churches and other development agencies seeking to engage with the City of London on issues of global and economic injustice. JustShare holds regular debates, training seminars and other events to promote justice for the poorest in the world and a just share of the world's resources for all.

Arguing the case for tackling social injustice, particularly childhood inequality, will be Professor Richard Wilkinson, professor of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School.

Having accumulated widespread evidence of the damage done by child inequality internationally, he is expected to argue it has a dramatic and negative effect on childrens' mental health; increases the likelihood of a child falling into a life of crime; and guarantees lower life-expectancy.

However rich a country is, he will say, that country will still be more dysfunctional and violent if there is a wide gap between rich and poor, because the psychological effects for those living at the bottom of the social pecking order conspire to effect health and happiness.

Taking a different view will be Professor Danny Quah, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. Professor Quah believes economic growth is the key driver of successful societies and that tackling inequality in isolation is not the answer.

Rather than condemning the explosion of high-income earners at the top of society and the widening gap between social classes, he is more likely to maintain that promoting overall growth should be a key priority because then everyone benefits from the advances in society that those few top earners create.