Conference in Inequality Measurement and the Progress of Society, 22nd 23rd April, 2010, Malta 

"It may seem obvious that problems associated with relative  deprivation should be more common in more unequal societies. However, if you ask people why greater equality reduces these problems, much the most common guess is that it must be because more equal societies have fewer poor people. The assumption is greater equality helps those at the bottom. As well as being only a minor part of the proper explanation, it is an assumption which reflects our failure to recognize very important processes affecting our lives and the societies we are part of. The truth is that the vast majority of the population is harmed by greater inequality.

Across whole populations, rates of mental illness are five times higher in the most unequal compared to the least unequal societies. Similarly, in more unequal societies people are five times as likely to be clinically obese, and murder rates may be many times higher. The reason why these differences are so big is , quite simply, because the effect of inequality are not confined just to the least well-off: instead they affect the vast majority of the population." (The Spirit Level, Chapter 13)

The European Commission -Joint Research Centre, in cooperation with DG Education and Culture, DG Employment, DG Health and Consumer Protection and the Maltese government, plans a two-day conference on Inequality Measurement and the Progress of Society which will be held in Malta from the 22nd to the 23rd of April, 2010. 

The opening speech will be given Richard Wilkinson, author of recently published book 'The Spirit Level'.  

Framed in the context of "European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion", the conference is intended to bring together researchers from Academia and staff from the European Commission.  

Educational issues will be of particular relevance  at the conference, which will also look at:

• Inequality and Education
• Inequality and Health
• Inequality and Employment/Unemployment
• Inequality and Trust
• Inequality and Active Citizenship
• Inequality and Social Exclusion
• Inequality and Social Cohesion 

The conference will explore to what extent inequality continues to persist in developed societies, and what impact fighting inequality can have on our progress as well as on our meeting the new targets of the EU 2020 agenda.  

Preliminary list of speakers and participants:

• Andrea Saltelli, European Commission - DG Joint Research Centre
• Anders Hinghel, European Commission - DG Education and Culture
• Jacob Ralf, European Commission - DG Employment
• Antonia Carparelli, European Commission - DG Employment
• Federico Paoli, European Commission - DG Health and Consumer
• Richard Wilkinson, University of Nottingham
• Katherine S. Newman, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies
• Margaret Fine-Davis, Social Attitude & Policy Research Group, Trinity College Dublin
• Nancy Bermeo, Nuffiel College Oxford Univerity
• Andrea Brandolini, Bank of Italy
• Marco Mira D'Ercole, OECD - Economics Department (ECO)
• Lihong Huang, NOVA, Norway Social Research
• Fabrice Murtin, OECD - Economics Department (ECO)
• Daniele Checchi, Univesity of Milan
• Marc Demeuse, Université de Mons-Hainaut
• Ariane Baye, University of Liège
• Wiemer Salverda, University of Amsterdam
• Jorge Calero, University of Barcelona 
• Jamil Salmi, World Bank
• Klára Fóti, European Foundation
• Bryony Hoskins, LLAKES Institute of Education
• Charles Glenn, Boston University School of Education
• Jaap Dronkers, Maastricht University
• Kenneth K. Wong, Brown University
• Marco Malgarini, Institute of Study and Economic Analysis (ISAE)
• Andy Green,  LLAKES Institute of Education
• Jaap Scheerens, Univerity of Twente