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.
13: A political thriller
12: The dark side of the Deep State
11: Now we've all been short changed
10: We are ready to take on the Establishment
9: John Major's Brexit broadside at Theresa May
8: The young campaigner determined to stop Brexit
7: Women, law and disorder
6: Heard the one about a Tory comedian?
5: Labour ready for Brexit battle
4: Carrying the can for Carillion
3: Theresa May's terrible start to 2018
Jeremy Corbyn special: Labour leader talks to Ayes to the Left about his remarkable year
Looking back on a tumultuous year in politics
The Brexit plans hit the buffers
2: Ayes to the Left podcast: Donald Trump’s anti-social media
Philip Hammond's Budget tricks fool nobody
Jeremy Corbyn lets Theresa May off the hook, Brexit woes and Russian meddling
Sexual harassment, Westminster's macho culture and why more needs to be done
1: Jared O’Mara revelations dampen another strong week for Jeremy Corbyn
Labour is back on the offensive over the economy - the power is shifting
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