Causes Of Economic Inequality

A cause of income inequality could be the jobs that people have. “In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly… (Income Inequality, para 1).” There have been no signs of income inequality changing for the lower classes, or getting better, therefore, it has become a very concerned issue upon Americans. “America’s top ten percent now average at least nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent (Income Inequality, para 2).” Many people who have a big dream have jobs that pay minimum wage, which makes it hard. With the rich getting richer, it makes it hard for the lower classes to get a shot at being at the top with them. This also makes it hard to close the gap between the three classes.

Income Inequality in America is a problem that’s been going on for decades, and many feel that it hardly exists, the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about this tremendous problem that in one’s eyes really has no end in the near future, in fact it has been gradually rising and one feels that it’s just not fair. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done, only of course if the poor class of people decide to actually educate themselves and get a higher education. One says poor class, simply because that’s how they’re classified. There are five types of levels that Americans are classified as, and they are: 1. Upper Class, 2. Upper Middle Class, 3. Middle Class, 4. Working Class, 5. Poor.

The issue of income inequality in the United States is complicated and does not have a definite answer. Income inequality can be measured in a few different ways. The first measurement for the income inequality in a country is to look at the percentages on households and group them into income categories, called distribution by income category. The second measurement for income inequality is called distribution by quintiles or fifths. This is when you divide the total number of people, households, families into five groups called quintiles to examine the percentage of total before tax income received by each quintile. Each quintile would then be ordered by income and households in the category.

This article titled "How income inequality hurts America” written by Steve Hargreaves explains the thesis statement itself. On the other hand, he states it’s not just income equality but it’s also lifespan inequality, education inequality, and declining economic growth, which refers to the graphs shown above the starting paragraph. Mr. Hargreaves then points out a fact that the rich are getting richer, while the poor and the middle class are falling behind. Another fact concerning this issue is the 400 richest people outnumber the wealth of the bottom 150 million put together.

Income inequality is one of the greatest problems facing the United States today. It is important for everyone to understand what this means and why this is a problem.

In “Income Inequality: The Public and the Partisan Divide,” Blendon and Benson explain the issue of income inequality and the need to address it. The importance of explaining this problem provides insight for the people who are not educated about the topic, hopefully triggering more public awareness. Blendon and Benson support their opinion by discussing that the two major political parties in the U.S. agree that income inequality is a problem that must be recognized, but cannot come up with a synopsis on how to take care of it. Also, they describe how different perspectives cause different ideas for fixing the issue. Blendon and Benson explain how partisan views towards the role of government are one of the perspectives towards how the income

In every country around the world you can see some form of inequality. The United States is not the only place in the world where people are living in an unfair social system. Inequality can span from racism, sexism, sexual orientation, where you live and how much income you make. You see in the U.S you are placed in a social class based on the amount of money you make a year. There are 6 different social classes in this country that everyone is placed in. Upper class, New Money, Middle class, Working Class, Working poor, and Poverty level. The two most important social classes in my opinion are the Upper Class and the Poverty level. Being in the upper class

Robert Reich explained to us, "Income inequality is inevitable and is essence of capitalism, but when the gap became too much, then it became a problem to the society. Today, the United States has the most inequality distribution of income of all the developed nation, the richest 400 Americans had more wealth than the bottom 150 million people put together"2. First of all, income inequality exist everywhere, it is not a problem for itself. Because of the income inequality, poor people know the life difference between people, then they will work harder and harder to catch up to get rid of poor, and to have a better life. The income inequality is a good thing when it is not much for is the source of power that make people to improve themselves.

If the wealth of U.S. citizens was like a pie, a very small of amount of people would own a large chunk of the pie. In 2007, 1% of U.S. citizens own 21% of that pie ¬¬1. The average income then for the 1% was $983,896 and for the top 0.01% of earners was $17,179, 318. Including their capital gains, these two groups averaged $1.2 million and $29 million, respectively (Picketty 2007). In 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the average household income in 2013 for the bottom 20%-80% of earners was $11,651-$83,519, while the

Throughout the history of American society which operate under a capitalist economy there has been constant a strife between the wealthy upper class and the less fortunate lower class, causing an gap between the two. This natural income inequality has become much greater in the last decades and is starting to harm the economy and society. As Robert Reich said in the movie “Inequality for All” :“Some inequality is inevitable. Look the question is not inequality per se. The question is, when does inequality become a problem?”(Inequality for All).

“Income inequality in the United States has soared to the highest levels since the Great Depression, and the recession has done little to reverse the trend” (Lowrey). Economic inequality has sparked many voices, some which have even been grappled in literature. This issue is not only effecting the people who face these barriers, but as well as the United State’s financial system, which has made economic expansion difficult to accomplish. By executing simple actions, the imbalanced gap can be narrowed. Such actions include raising the minimum wage or increasing taxes on the wealthy.

Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The

A major social problem in America today is its inequality of the distribution of income. "Income inequality refers to the gap between the rich and the poor. The United States has the most unequal income distribution in the industrialized world, and it is growing at a faster rate than any other industrialized country" (Eitzen & Leedham, pg. 37). The main reason as to why income is distributed so unequally is because of the gap between social classes.

Economic inequality, also known as income inequality, is the interval between the rich and the poor. Economic inequality refers to how the total wealth in the United States is distributed among people in a social class. It is needed and it is important but due to the major gap difference, it affects the Democratic Party and in addition, it also affects Americans because they do not understand the actual wealth distribution. It is a major issue in the United States because it affects other economic classes besides the 1 percent by limiting the opportunities for social mobility and it hinders overall growth, such as the 15 percent (46.2 million) of Americans that live below the federal poverty line, which is concentrated in minority people and single female-headed household. A question that many ask is if there is a connection between economic inequality and political inequality because lobbyist and interest groups tend to play an important role due to their higher income and wealth. Having high income and wealth gives them the power to have a stronger voice in politics, which grants access to political decision-making, something people with low income do not have. Finally, social movements have played in the past in trying to improve the plight of the poor and unprivileged in the United States but after all the poor are getting poorer, regardless of the help of the government and the rich are eventually getting richer because of that.

Income inequality is the extent in which income is distributed unevenly among a population. It is no secret that there is a separation between lower, middle, and high-class families, but just how wide have the gaps between the top percenters and everyone else grown?