The quality of social relations is worse in less equal societies. Evidence on inequality in relation to trust, community life and violence all tell the same story. Inequality divides people by increasing the social distances between us and widening differences in living standards and lifestyles. By increasing residential segregation of rich and poor, it also increases physical distances. People trust each other most in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands; just within the rich market democracies there are at least five-fold differences in levels of trust, and researchers have shown repeatedly that high levels of trust are linked to low levels of inequality, both internationally and among the 50 U.S. States, and that trust is linked to health and well-being.
