Inequality and Social Risks - Applications of the Index of Health and Social Problems -

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between income inequality and various social problems or social risks from a theoretical, empirical, and comparative perspective. Based on the theoretical framework that rising income inequality not only lowers the level of social integration and cohesion but also increases status competition among individuals, leading into various pathological and disintegrative social phenomena, I explain the increasing social risks in Korea and across the globe in relation to rising income inequality. In order to empirically test this hypothesis, I used the Index of Health and Social Problems developed by Wilkinson and Pickett, and according to the results, as the level of income inequality is higher, so is the level of social risks measured by the Index. This result was particularly supported by a strong association found in a cross-sectional analysis of twenty-two countries, including Korea, but a similar pattern was also observed in a 20-year time-series analysis of Korea. The results of this study implies that what is required to effectively approach to various social problems and risks recently found in Korean society is to make an earnest effort to tackle the problem of rising inequality and polarization in the twenty-first century.