Many problems which appear in society today might be the result of social inequality. It is easy to discover criminality, unemployment, and abuse in our society. One of the factors that contribute to this phenomenon actually is an unequal distribution of goods.
For instance, it is important to know whether incomes are distributed evenly across the community or not. If not, there are a number of people who have a lack of income which affects their prosperity. This also can increase the number of unemployment as people are not satisfied with their job and choose to leave them.
Definition of Social Inequality
Social Inequality is defined as relational processes in society that cause effects to restrict or harm the social status, class, and circle of a particular group. There are many areas in our daily life that can be affected by inequality including access to health care, education, social services, and freedom of speech.
The inequality of social life might appear due to society's perceptions about gender roles and public stereotypes. This causes adverse effects on society as people will get different opportunities and rewards based on their social status and position.
The inequality that happens in each state can be different as the society's condition varies too. One of the examples of this inequality is when people living in one country think they are better than other people living in other countries which turns them into racists.
There is no country that is free from inequalities. Even small inequalities can be discovered such as when people start to blame the poor are responsible for their condition. They are unemployed since they don’t own the proper skills or educational background that can support them when finding jobs.
Types of Social Inequality
Generally, there are five types of inequalities that happen in society. The unequal condition can be found in several aspects of our life such as follows:
- Life Inequality
This inequality addresses the different opportunities receives by each person to improve their quality of life. For instance, children from the poor cannot get access to proper education as they don’t have enough money to pay the tuition fee.
- Income and Wealth Inequality
This inequality associate with the outcome or results of earnings of an individual. Some jobs often cannot pay properly the workers so it results in their incapability to achieve better wealth in life.
- Political Inequality
It refers to no civic equality in front of the law which causes improper consequences for the wrongdoers. For instance, people with high positions receive mild consequences from citizens even though they have similar law infringement.
- Treatment and Responsibility Inequality
Sometimes we can find people that don’t receive proper treatment because of their not prestigious jobs or lack of educational background. If such kind of inequality happens it will cause problems in responsibility and agency.
- Membership Inequality
Inequality also can be discovered in the membership of family, nation, and even faith. For example, a child might be treated differently in the family than their siblings which causes physiological problems.
Social Inequality in America
There are numerous examples of inequalities that happen in American society. Numerous jobs in this country are determined by social inequalities such as educational background, gender, as well as regional or national circle.
Income is another significant inequality in America especially the number that is received by black and white people. In 1967, the median household income between those two groups was $19,000. The number of differences keeps increasing until today.
Gender is another common inequality in America. Women receive insufficient representation in their roles in society, decision making, as well as take part in political activities. Although today women in this country can participate in different industries, they still obtain less wages than men.
How to Reduce It
There are several ways that help to reduce social inequality and make sure all people getting their rights in life. The government needs to set a standard for a national living wage. All corporations need to follow the national wage standards to pay their workers.
Organizing the workers’ rights to avoid them from ant intimidation and abuse. By increasing the wages and ensuring the worker’s rights, inequality that exists in the society will go lower. It becomes a beginning step to create more equal societies.
Investing in human capital, infrastructure, and economic growth help to reduce inequalities in developing countries, Society in such kind of country needs to face inadequate resources of health care, sanitation, education access, and investment.
Enhancing social services also can reduce the inequality among society as those can approach more people. The government needs to ensure society gets access to social protection so every person feels safe living in society.
Getting to know about social inequality helps you to know the factors that cause discrepancies among society. This information is beneficial to find ways of improving what is still lack in society and make sure all the people get what they deserve to obtain.