Economic and Social Costs of Inequality in Australia

Whilst these percentages had changed significantly it was also found that the types of people who were living under the poverty line were still the same. In this report it was found that 75 percent of those living below the poverty line were not in the workforce, and that the aged made up 41 per cent of all Australians that were living in poverty. (Williams, Lawrey 2000) Therefore it is clear that although the poverty line had risen significantly from 1975 to 1987, there has not been an improvement in the percentage of Australians living under the poverty line, but instead this percentage has increased.

Over the last two decades the Australian population has faced a number of economic instabilities that has seen the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ increase. To determine who the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ are an in-depth investigation will be performed examining the circumstances under which the gap can be manipulated. The economic wellbeing of individuals is largely determined by their command over economic resources (ABS, 2009). The wellbeing of individuals who are classified as ‘haves’ are usually people who are asset rich, contain bonds, shares and are fairly affluent. The wellbeing of individuals who are classified as ‘have nots’ are usually the working poor, who have little assets and little investments i.e. bonds. These

It is a commonly accepted that inequality is increasing throughout the globe, with startling statistics such as the recent Oxfam report indicating that the richest 85 people in the world own more wealth than the poorest 3.5 billion people(Oxfam Australia Media, 2014). Inequality is thought of as disparities or gaps, such as the distance between a low income and a high income household, or the ratio of their incomes (Divided We Stand, 2011). Domestic inequality refers to inequality within a country and

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.

First we must define what exactly income inequality really is and that is according to Definition of ‘Income Inequality’ (2015) said to be unequal income distributed to household or individual across the various participants in an economy. Income inequality is often presented as the percentage of income to a percentage of population. For example,

One measure that has been used to measure income distribution in Australia is provided by the income shares going to groups of people at different points in the income distribution. In 2011-12, 10.4% of total equivalised disposable household income went to the people in the low-income group and 39.5% went to the high income group which relates to 20% of the population.

The disparities accounted for in the distribution of wealth and income tends to reflect wealth that is accumulated during a person’s working life and utilised during retirement. Whilst this sources the foundation of inequality, the distribution of income in Australia is influenced by socio-economic factors such as gender, age, occupation and ethnicity. Gender is a common inconsistency in various economies, during 2013 average weekly earnings for males were $1516 while females earned $1250, this is still coherent for males and females in the same occupational categories, and is augmented for opposite genders in different occupational categories. In terms of ethnicity, it has been recorded that persons born overseas earn more than persons born in Australia, that non-English speaking backgrounds earn less than English speaking backgrounds and the period of residence in Australia is proportional to the income earned. However, the lowest income earners in the Australian community are Indigenous Australians and being heavily reliant on government welfare, earn a substantial loss in income compared to that

Social stratification is a concept used within sociology that explains the divisions and social inequalities of large groups of people within a particular society. The Hunger Games (2012) is a film that demonstrates this through amplifying how the power of the rich members in a polarised society are taking control of the poor and separating them in different districts which create specific social rankings. This essay will use the perspective of conflict theory to examine how Australian society is also effected by social stratification and therefore divided in social classes which effects their access to social equalities.

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.

The extent of institutionalised inequality has decreased but is still to a high extent in and is applied in all areas of Australian society

Economic class has been one of the reasons behind inequality and discrimination in our society. Inequality is one of the main issues in America, in which people are not provided with equal opportunities. Income inequality is increasing rapidly between people, as the economic progress for lower and middle class is not improving. As a result of income inequality, social inequality is increasing within a society. The difference in payment levels does not only affect the family status, but it also reduces their chances of affording health insurance and providing better education for their children.

Income inequality measures may or may not have certain desirable properties such as Scale invariance: inequality is invariant to proportional increases or decreases in Everyone’s income (Allison, 1987).The protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement have made a point. There is an unfair division of wealth in North America and other industrialized nations around the world. The very rich continue to accumulate wealth while the poor only seem to become more poverty-stricken as time passes.

Income inequality is necessary for a capitalist society to thrive as it provides competition, hard work, and innovating ideas (Sutter).

Although the majority support income redistribution, others argue that income inequalities are necessary for several reasons. First, income inequalities encourage a spirit of hard work, whereby when someone works hard and he or she is paid a higher wage, he or she is encouraged to keep working hard, hence increasing productivity and higher national output, which benefits the entire

Traditionally Australians have believed in and conveyed the myth of Australia as a fair , egalitarian society without excess wealth or poverty, however we are definitely not a classless society. Australia's education system has been and remains one of the most unequally distributed social resources and could possibly be regarded as the main source of inequality in our society (Encel 1970; Anderson & Vervoorn 1983; as cited in Jamrozik, 2009). Now more than ever, Australia's education system is acting as a kind of 'sorting out' mechanism, allocating people to certain stations within