1. Social Change in Western Australia
Growing bigger and more unequal

2. Some headline changes Increased population Urban expansion
Pressure on key services & infrastructure
Growing average incomes
Increased cost of living?
Heavy reliance on mining & resource sectors
But also……

3. And some shifts in community attitudes?
Some downsides
Urban sprawl – cost, isolation, health effects;
“Fly-in”, “fly-out” life style – affects families;
Services unable to keep up;
Increased housing costs – steady decline in social housing/ affordable housing;
Environmental degradation;
Growing inequality;
Poverty levels not declining;
And some shifts in community attitudes?

4. How much richer are the richest 20% than the poorest 20%?4 4
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

5. 2011
Australia
Distribution of Household Wealth and Household Disposable Income by Decile

8. Actual, Estimated and Ideal Wealth Distribution by Quintile: Australia
Neal, Norton & Ariely, 2011
Actual, Estimated and Ideal Wealth Distribution by Quintile: Australia

9.                                                                      
OECD

10. Oishi et al 2011

11. Health and Social Problems are Worse in More Unequal Countries
Index of:
Life expectancy
Math & Literacy
Infant mortality
Homicides
Imprisonment
Teenage births
Trust
Obesity
Mental illness – incl. drug & alcohol addiction
Social mobility 11
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

12. The Prevalence of Mental Illness is Higher in More Unequal Rich Countries12
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

13. Drug Use is More Common in More Unequal Countries
Index of use of: opiates, cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

14. Rates of Imprisonment are Higher in More Unequal Countries
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

15. Child Well-being is Better in More Equal Rich Countries15
Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

16. Net benefit generosity of transfers as a percentage of an average net production worker’s wage.
The poverty line is 50% of median equivalized disposable income. 16 16

17. Lundberg O et al. (2007). The Nordic experience: welfare states and public health (NEWS). Report for the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Stockholm, Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS). 17 17

21. Nous report (see LMS)
Impact of socio-economic status on reading outcomes (percentage of variance in reading score explained by ESCS)

23. Impact of disadvantage on performance – socioeconomic status17

24. Cognitive score percentile position at each age
Cognitive Score: Socioeconomic status more important than starting point
High Cognitive Score at 22 months
Low Cognitive Score at 22 months
Child’s age (years)
Cognitive score percentile position at each age
(I Feinstein. Inequality in cognitive development British Births. Economica 2003; 70: 3-97) (from The Marmot Review 2010)