Economic Inequality In Latin America

“The United States income inequality has risen drastically since the 1970’s and has not been this high since 1928.” Economic inequality is the unequal differences in how assets, wealth, and income are dispersed among the people and different populations throughout the United States. It is often described as the gap between the rich and the poor.

"How Economic Inequality Harms Societies." Richard Wilkinson:. TED Talks, July 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

Homelessness is one of the main problems plaguing the United States today, with low income earners at a higher risk of becoming homeless than previous years. There have been countless laws and ordinances put in place throughout the country in hopes of solving this growing problem but many of them have failed to address one of the main things causing this issue, economic inequality and the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States. Although there are many non-profit organizations working not only to get people off the streets, but to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place, they are facing an uphill battle until the United States government addresses its country’s current unequal distribution of wealth. Throughout this essay I will be discussing the strategies multiple non-profit organizations, including the one I worked with last semester, are using in their battle to combat homelessness, the relationship between economic inequality and homelessness in the United States, and my experiences working with LifeMoves, formerly known as InnVision Shelter Network.

The majority of growth over the last 40 years has not gone to the average American, it has been funneled upwards into the pockets of the wealthiest Americans. This means that wages have stagnated for the majority of American workers. Because of inflation, wages are falling if they are not rising.

The higher the difference in inequality, the weaker the econom actually becomes (Lowrey 15). The economy reaches an unstable point and people tend to become mistrusting with their own government. The inequality "blocks opportunities at the bottom and shelters those at the top" (Esping-Andersen n.p.). In other words, it is extremely hard for people who live in poverty to work their way up the economic system and have better opportunities and chances for themselves to take. The people that are already rich and living life with no problems, do not even have to waste a second thought on what would happen if they ran out of money, because they know for a fact that it would never happen. Also, the economic struggles would lead to slower economic growth and slower job creation (Lowrey 15). If people do not want to take the jobs because they do not see a point, people are going to start shortening jobs and limiting the amount of people that they hire. Political instability, violence, and economic destruction will also start to take effect, even if it is not noticable

Income inequality in the United States has been increasing gradually as from the 20th century where there was economic stability. It is estimated that around a quarter of the American worker population receives not more than $10 in an hour. Through this condition, it creates an income that is below what the federal poverty level demands. Those who receive low income include the fast food employees, cashiers, nurse's aides and many more. Other individuals get good payments which are above $10 per hour. Wealth inequality in America is quite common as there are those who are the major economic block and those who can’t afford even the three meals in a day. The social issues that income and wealth inequality might cause in the United States include poverty, household debts becoming high, high crime rates, no health insurance for the low-income families, high mobility rates, high crime rates and school dropouts.

Income inequality happens in the United States. Possibly income inequality is a suitable portion of a lively and wealthy economy, as long as encouragements work hard and fee in schooling. Or does it interrupt public organization and exclude the unfortunate?

Income inequality has been a major concern around the world, and it mainly links to how economic metrics are distributed among individuals in a country. Economists generally categorise these metrics in wealth, income and consumption. Wilkinson and Picket (2009) showed in their studies that inequality has drawbacks that lead to social problems. This is because income inequality and wealth concentration can hinder or delay long term growth. In 2011, International Monetary Fund economists showed that less income inequality increased the duration of countries’ economic growth spells more than free trade, low government corruption, foreign investment or low foreign debt (Berg and Ostry, 2011).

Income Inequality is “The unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy. Income inequality is often presented as the percentage of income to a percentage of population.” (Investopedia). Some believe income equality is the biggest problem of the 21st century, President Obama believes it to be “the defining challenge of our time” (white house). Some economist believe that increase inequality has a correlation effect with higher rates of health problems, social problems, that it harms economic growth, creates higher persistent unemployment and polarizes opportunity. Historically one can make the argument that other advance nations who have collapsed, have had great inequality and economic stratification. Other economist argue that true ‘equality’ is impossible because people have different skills and abilities. Income inequality natural and a benefit because I creates incentive to work harder. It’s important to understand the effects of income inequality on a nation’s society and labor force. What type of problems income inequality could cause or doesn’t cause. This essay will give a comparative study of Income inequality in the United States of America and France, and how it effects labor and economic activity.

Given Latin America's great land mass and population, it is no surprise that the country shouldproduce inequalities in race/ethnicity, income, and politics. While Latin America produces countries with a large population above the poverty level, it stillhouses a striking number of those that live below it. After all, “many Latin American states fall into themiddle-income category and support a significant middle class. ”(pg.103) However, even with all of it'simprovements, Latin America still proves to have poverty as a major hinderance to it's development.

Equality is the quality of equal. Economy is the opposite of equality. No matter how much we want to earn the same as the person next to us, it all depends on your social class. Since ancient time the society is divided into three class level. We are all familiar with the upper, middle, and lower classes. Every individual falls within the range in one of these classes. Equality among these social classes can never come to existence. I support Ehrenreich’s analysis because the rich will continue to prosper while the poor will always have to work ten times harder to provide for their necessary things and the gap between upper and middle class increases.

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

The IMF found that intense income inequality is also accompanied by “resource misallocation, corruption, and nepotism”. Since people will seek favored treatment, income inequality can also oppose civil unity and trust in the future. Moreover, the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) expressed that “econometric analysis suggests that income inequality has a sizeable and statistically significant negative impact on growth.” The OECD’s findings were based on a report titled “In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits Us All”. John Schmitt, the Research Director for the Washington Center for Economic Growth, summarized the OECD’s findings stating, “The new report finds that between 1990 and 2010 gross domestic product per person in 19 core OECD countries grew by a total of 28 percent, but would have grown by 33 percent over the same period if inequality had not increased after 1985. This estimate is based on an econometric analysis of 31 high- and middle-income OECD countries, which concluded that lowering inequality by just one ‘Gini-point’ (a standard measure of inequality used by economists) would raise the annual growth rate of GDP by 0.15 percentage points”. “Latin America’s new college graduates are inferior to other countries, because they receive poor elementary and high school education, which

Poverty, or the inability to afford basic human needs, is an issue that is spread worldwide. There are people everywhere who cannot afford shelter, food, healthcare, or education. It seems easy enough to ignore the bum asking for change on the street, but it becomes near impossible in regions where whole families are begging on the street. This rings true in Latin America and it is extremely frustrating to see social inequality this extreme. This essay will examine how much poverty exists in Latin America, why the amount of poverty is so disproportionate and what can possibly be done to alleviate the amount of poverty in these countries.

Although Latin America has faced many social, political, and economic issues within the last three centuries, inequality remains one of the most important, historical, and omnipresent aspects of the region’s culture. As Europeans took over Latin America during the time of colonization, they implemented many elitist social structures that have held strong and are evident today (Harris). Income inequality is the most visible and greatest disparity that the region faces; yet inequality between gender, ethnicities, and education remain strong and significant problems with a necessity for improvement. Inequality of wealth and disparity of power and influence are Latin American’s greatest curses and are at the root of many of the