After the 2008 financial crash Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett published one of the defining books on austerity.The Spirit Level showed how countries with the greatest inequality have higher rates of violence, imprisonment, drug use and obesity.Now they have published a sister book, the Inner Level, which reveals how unequal societies also have higher rates of mental illness.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast they discuss their findings with the Mirror’s Head of Politics Jason Beattie.They explain how inequality leads to a fracturing of communities, increases loneliness and leaves people with less time to care for friends, relatives and the disabled.A society where your status is judged by how much you earn causes higher levels of stress and anxiety, they have found.And they argue that only by capping executive pay, giving workers a greater say in running companies and beefing up trade unions can tackle the problem. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices