Description
Book SynopsisThe growing divide between the poor and the rich is the most significant social change to have occurred during the last few decades. The new Labour government inherited a country more unequal than at any other time since the Second World War. This book brings together a collection of contributions on inequalities in the main areas of British life: income, wealth, standard of living, employment, education, housing, crime and health. It charts the extent of the growth in inequalities and offers a coherent critique of the new Labour government's policies aimed at those tackling this crisis. In particular, the numerous area-based anti-poverty policies currently being pursued are unlikely to have a significant and long-lasting effect, since many lessons from the past have been ignored. The contributors use and interpret official data to show how statistics are often misused to obscure or distort the reality of inequality. A range of alternative policies for reducing inequalities in Britain are discussed and set within the global context of the need for international action. Tackling inequalities is a valuable contribution to the emerging policy debate written by the leading researchers in the field. It is essential reading for academics, policy makers, and students with an interest in inequalities, poverty and social exclusion. Studies in poverty, inequality and social exclusion series Series Editor: David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research. Poverty, inequality and social exclusion remain the most fundamental problems that humanity faces in the 21st century. This exciting series, published in association with the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol, aims to make cutting-edge poverty related research more widely available. For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.
Trade Review"An excellent contribution to the ongoing policy debate surrounding social exclusion and how best to tackle it." British Sociological Association Network Magazine
"... a very clearly written and accessible book, which at the same time manages to present a range of key issues and pack in lots of factual information." Politics Included
Table of ContentsIntroduction ~ Christina Pantazis; Inequalities in income, wealth and standard of living in Britain ~ David Gordon; Inequalities in employment: problems of spatial divergence ~ Ivan Turok; Educational inequalities and Education Action Zones ~ Ian Plewis; How can we end inequalities in housing? ~ Alan Murie; Tackling inequalities in crime and social harm ~ Christina Pantazis; Poverty across the life-course and health ~ George Davey Smith and David Gordon; Inequalities in health service provision: how research findings are ignored ~ Walter Barker and Colin Chalmers; A mortality league table for Cabinet ministers? ~ Danny Dorling; Ending world poverty in the 21st century ~ Peter Townsend.
