It's a pretty good indicator about the real impact of poverty in that society. If a lot of the wealth is concentrated, the people in the middle and bottom are very squeezed in terms of what society actually offers them (generally), whereas if the wealth is more evenly distributed, society tends to make sure everybody's getting along well, with health care and schools and what-not.
Of course, you can definitely throw the baby out with the bathwater on that one. If there's completely even income distribution, the only motivation you have to do any work is just because you like to work - and most people don't like to work much. And then people compensate with non-income power imbalance, usually, so things are still not equitable.
> If a lot of the wealth is concentrated, the people in the middle and bottom are very squeezed in terms of what society actually offers them (generally)
I'm not sure I understand the connection though. I don't see how one party having a large amount of wealth, however defined, necessarily precludes any other party from having any amount of wealth.
> whereas if the wealth is more evenly distributed, society tends to make sure everybody's getting along well, with health care and schools and what-not.
But the underlying underlying in statements like this is that wealth originates in the aggregation, and individuals subsequently claim a portion of it, which seems counter-intuitive and false.
Particular people build things like schools and hospitals in particular places, generating wealth for the specific people involved. 'Society' doesn't ensure that people have these goods; people create these goods for themselves, and generate society in the process.
Of course, you can definitely throw the baby out with the bathwater on that one. If there's completely even income distribution, the only motivation you have to do any work is just because you like to work - and most people don't like to work much. And then people compensate with non-income power imbalance, usually, so things are still not equitable.