Kate E. Pickett | Lightnews

Kate Pickett

@profkepickett.bsky.social

660 followers 110 following 52 posts

Social epidemiologist, co-author of 'The Spirit Level' and 'The Inner Level' and co-founder of The Equality Trust

www.wilkinsonpickett.com

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Kate Elizabeth Pickett is a British epidemiologist and political activist who is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, and was a National Institute for Health and Care Research Career Scientist from 2007 to 2012. She co-authored The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better and is a co-founder of The Equality Trust. Pickett was awarded a 2013 Silver Rose Award from Solidar for championing equality and the 2014 Charles Cully Memorial Medal by the Irish Cancer Society. .. more

Public Health 36%

Psychology 21%

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Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 2d

Well done @equalitytrust.bsky.social ! Great analysis and report
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘Unelected power’ of ultra-rich is reshaping British politics, report claims

Equality Trust study shows how House of Lords appointments, big donations and media ownership affect political decisions

www.theguardian.com

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 2d

I've worked so hard with so many good colleagues towards this goal. But always more to do, so onwards

Health Equity North @healthequitynorth.bsky.social · 2d

The two-child cap, ended in the recent Budget, punished children & deepened poverty. We have pushed for its removal with research, @childofthenorth.bsky.social APPG meetings & political engagement. This is a great step, but the fight's not over.

www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/statements-f...

Reposted by Danny Dorling

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 2d

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Health Equity North @healthequitynorth.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Child of the North @childofthenorth.bsky.social · 3d

For families who have struggled under the two-child restriction, today’s #Budget announcement offers them the chance to build a life free from poverty and deprivation.

Child of the North APPG Chair @emmalewellmp.bsky.social issued a statement on the news www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/statements-f...

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett, Luke Munford

Health Equity North @healthequitynorth.bsky.social · 3d

The two-child cap will be removed from April! We have campaigned for years to end this unjust policy – through evidence, advocacy & collaboration. Half a million children will be immediately lifted from poverty as a result. Read our reaction 👇
www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/statements-f...
1/2 #Budget

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett, Luke Munford

Debbie Abrahams MP @debbieabrahamsmp.bsky.social · 9d

It was a pleasure to welcome @profbambra.bsky.social (newcastleuni.bsky.social), @lukemunford.bsky.social (@manchester.ac.uk) to Parliament yesterday.

As part of #HealthEquityNorth the #CommonsWorkandPensions commissioned them to analyse what savings could be generated from new #EmploymentSupport

Debbie Abrahams MP at the Health Equity North drop-in

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 9d

More on the Ten Principles of new economic thinking:
Why the UK should look beyond growth to a ‘new economics’ that works for all theconversation.com/why-the-uk-s...

Why the UK should look beyond growth to a ‘new economics’ that works for all

Traditional economics can’t respond to global crises like inequality and climate change.

theconversation.com

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 11d

My new column: Are We Humans or Homo Economicus? Why Economics Needs to Evolve Beyond Growth www.socialeurope.eu/are-we-human...

Are We Humans or Homo Economicus? Why Economics Needs to Evolve Beyond Growth

Economics assumes we behave like chimps, but humans are far more cooperative—and our economic models must catch up.

www.socialeurope.eu

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 12d

Reposting with new link: www.independent.co.uk/news/south-a...

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 12d

Proud to have signed letter from 600+ economists & inequality experts from 70 countries supporting the call for a new Independent Panel on Inequality- an Inequality IPCC- to tackle the inequality emergency- G20 leaders must support this. #G20SouthAfrica www.independent.co.uk/news/south-a...

Top economists call on world leaders to set up an international panel on inequality

Hundreds of top economists and other experts including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are calling for the world to set up an independent international panel on income and wealth inequalit...

www.independent.co.uk

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Equality Trust @equalitytrust.bsky.social · 18d

Doing all this popular and fair stuff to tax the rich would be great on its own terms, but it could also help allow real investment in our future – and that pays dividends. Plus you get a better society out of it. Everyone wins, including the richest!

Taxing the rich to help build social homes could save £4.5bn in housing benefit and £3.3bn in universal credit; for everyone £100 spent on community spare there is a 31% return on investment, and the two-child benefit cap causes child poverty that costs the state £3.2bn every year. Investing in people pays!

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Equality Trust @equalitytrust.bsky.social · 18d

Did the richest work harder to win their explosion of wealth? No! The cost of living crisis allowed banks, energy companies, water companies, supermarkets and more to do absolutely nothing and watch their profits soar off our higher bills. Taxing the richest would be about taking our wealth back.

Infographic explaining why taxing the rich is justified, highlighting £24.1 billion bank profits, £30 billion energy profits, and water bills funding private debt.

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Equality Trust @equalitytrust.bsky.social · 18d

Our tax system hugely favours the wealthiest. Taxes on income from work are much higher than passive income from wealth, allowing millionaires to pay effective tax rates that are half what the rest of us pay. Taxing the richest would make that system much fairer.

A graph showing the proportion of income paid in tax by the poorest 10% and the richest 10% in the UK. The proportion paid by the poorest 10% is consistently higher by about 10 percentage points from 2016 to 2024

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Equality Trust @equalitytrust.bsky.social · 18d

Homelessness, foodbank use, and child poverty have all been growing alongside the wealth of the super rich. These things are two sides of the same coin: inequality is undermining our ability to provide for everyone.

A graph showing UK billionaire wealth rising from £200bn to £650bn from 2010 to 2024. Over the same period, foodbank use increases from almost nothing in 2010 to a spike around 2015 of over 1mn, then continues to rocket up to over 3mn by 2024

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Equality Trust @equalitytrust.bsky.social · 18d

Taxing the rich could raise billions in the next budget – but that's far from the only reason to do it. Taxing the richest is popular, fair, and necessary to start making society more equal and our economy work better for everyone. Here's why:

Infographic explaining how taxing the rich can raise billions through closing tax loopholes and wealth taxes. Key points include £24bn from a wealth tax, £15bn from bank windfall taxes, £14bn a year from equalising capital gains taxes, and other loopholes and subsidies for polluters.

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · 23d

I was pleased to contribute to the work of the G20 Commission on wealth inequality led by Joseph Stiglitz: g20.org/resources/docu…
Help support the call for a new international agency to monitor inequality!

https://g20.org/resources/docu…

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Child of the North @childofthenorth.bsky.social · Sep 24

Academic Co-Director of @healthequitynorth.bsky.social @profkepickett.bsky.social will be speaking at our #ChildOfTheNorth panel event at #LabourPartyConference next week, touching on the regional inequalities young people are facing www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/addressing...

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · Sep 4

Great editorial from great colleagues: www.bmj.com/content/390/...

Welfare system is a key public health measure

UK approach needs reconsideration to improve inequalities Health, and health inequalities, are almost universally recognised to have substantial social determinants.12 Although the Conservative gover...

www.bmj.com

Reposted by Naomi Priest

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · Jul 31

An important and eloquent letter from our friend and colleague, Roberto De Vogli - please read and share
Break the selective silence on the genocide in Gaza - The Lancet www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Break the selective silence on the genocide in Gaza

Substantial and well-documented evidence indicates a catastrophic public health emergency in Gaza (appendix pp 1–5), marked by severe food insecurity and alarming levels of malnutrition-related deaths...

www.thelancet.com

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Inequality News @inequalitynews.bsky.social · Apr 5

📢 #INEQUALITY GRAPH OF THE WEEK (No.1)

✅ More #equal countries are healthier, greener, and have fewer social problems.

❌ Note the positions of the US and UK.

Source: Profs Wilkinson & Pickett and The Equality Trust ♥️). See full report ➡️ media.equality-trust.out.re/uploads/2024...

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Earth4All @earth4all.life · Jun 11

A new study identifies ten core principles from new economic thinking that could provide the foundation for a new mainstream economics that actually serves people and planet.

Learn more in a new blog from the co-authors ⏩ vist.ly/3n6kfvv

Mossy roots of a tree with text: New economic thinking offers a vision of prosperity that's more meaningful, more sustainable, and more equitable than what we have right now

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · Jun 26

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Ex-world leaders call for ‘powerful shift’ as they warn of extreme inequality

Former leaders urge current state heads to work together to end poverty amid potential of first trillionaires emerging

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Common Sense Policy Group @plancommonsense.bsky.social · Jun 25

CSPG's Epidemiology Lead @profkepickett.bsky.social in @theguardian.com making the case for Basic Income as a powerful upstream intervention to reduce pressure on the NHS and improve population health in the poorest areas.

Read more: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

#CommonSense #BasicIncome

Poorest parts of England to get £2.2bn more for NHS to cut care inequalities

Deprived and coastal areas to get extra cash this year for staff and resources in effort to improve health outcomes

www.theguardian.com

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · Jun 25

We cannot afford cuts. See our (better) alternative to the Spending Review: commonsense.northumbria.ac.uk/reports/spen...

Spending Review 2025 - Common Sense Policy Group

We Cannot Afford Cuts: An Alternative to the 2025 Spending Review Download ‘We Cannot Afford Cuts’ This report challenges the […]

commonsense.northumbria.ac.uk

Reposted by Kate E. Pickett

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Jun 25

Poorest parts of England to get £2.2bn more for NHS to cut care inequalities

Deprived and coastal areas to get extra cash this year for staff and resources in effort to improve health outcomes

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Poorest parts of England to get £2.2bn more for NHS to cut care inequalities

Deprived and coastal areas to get extra cash this year for staff and resources in effort to improve health outcomes

www.theguardian.com

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · Jun 11

See our blog describing findings from our new paper

Earth4All @earth4all.life · Jun 11

Kate Pickett @profkepickett.bsky.social · Jun 3

I was part of the Sustainability and Social Value working group as part of this, good to see the reports out

The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · Jun 3

"In a geopolitically uncertain world and after more than a decade of low productivity growth, the UK needs to rethink its economic strategy." Today, we're publishing a collection of expert policy insights ahead of the multi-year Spending Review conclusion: buff.ly/DAlcNo5

buff.ly