Income Inequality In The Developing World

Over 20 percent of the global population live in unsustainable impoverished conditions, surviving on less than a dollar a day, with approximately 50 percent living on less than two dollars. Over 2 ½ billion people have a 10% infant mortality rate versus the 0.006% of infant deaths in developed countries. As conditions worsen the poor-rich gap widens through progressive decades, reaching an average per capita income of 74:1 in 1997.1 A debate has emerged as the whether developed countries possess a duty to ameliorate the living condition of the global poor and on what grounds said duty is justified.

Poverty is an issue that has affected society since civilization was first created. Even with a globalized economy and economic opportunity prevalent nearly everywhere, there is still a vast majority of people who live in financial strain. According to recent information obtained by the World Bank, “10.7% of the world’s population live on less than US $1.90 a day”(World Bank 2013). In the United States considered the wealthiest nation on Earth, the poverty rate is 12.7% which is 40.6 million people(US Census Bureau 2016). Though some people are in poverty because of their own choices, poverty is a result of structural institutional practices in place.

Over the years living conditions around the world have improved, even in the poorest of countries. Despite this there is still a clear difference between high-income countries and low-income countries. High-income countries are defined as countries with very productive economic systems where the majority of people have fairly high incomes, while low-income countries are defineed as having low economic systems where most people are poor and many do not meet living standards (Macionis et al., 2005, pg 439). Even though poverty can be found all over the world citizens in low-income countries are living in absolute poverty rather than relative poverty

In recent years, a growing gap between the wealthy and the middle class has grown, as the wealth of the world has increased significantly, yet only a minority of individuals get to enjoy it. Income inequality has been proven to be detrimental to not only the economy, but to the overall well-being of a nation as it leads to societal upset and can potentially prompt a decline in progression as a nation. Over time, income inequality has led to negative results in the United States, as well as many other nations including Greece. Consequently, the solution to prevent income inequality from deteriorating a nation and prevent economic upset is to ultimately tax those who are wealthier at a higher rate and put said money towards education and healthcare

The U.S. is the land of opportunity, but why will so many not achieve the American Dream? There is no doubt a difference exists between the rich and the poor. The most common words to describe social class are the upper, the middle, and the lower class groups of people . U.S. News (Francis) states 46.2 million people, approximately 15 percent of the U.S. population, currently live below the poverty line (Francis). Unequal income distribution contributes tremendously to poverty by making the rich, richer and keeping the poor, poorer.

The American Dream remains alive and well however due to income inequality it has failed to become a reality for the overwhelming majority. The fact that all politicians today still agree that income inequality is a major problem in the United States, shows that there persists an overwhelming need for better methods than the ones that have been tried in the past. Politicians, in their quest to win elections, emphasize the failure of our economic system to bridge and close the gap between the rich and the poor masses. The implantation, by governments, of various economic theories postulated by the great economic minds

In-depth research on inequality highlights the problematic reality that the average American employee has not seen increases in wage benefits from the U.S.'s productivity gains much like top income earners have. Rising inequality in the United States has been noted as the growing divergence between growing productivity and the flattening of average wages since the late 1970s (Citation). The average worker's compensation only grew by 8% from 1979 to 2009 despite an 80% increase in productivity (Sylla). Meanwhile, wages for top percent of income earners have been growing at a disproportionally higher rate than productivity. C.E.O.s from big companies went from earning about twenty times more than their average employee in 1965, to earning about

“Income inequality has no necessary connection with poverty, the lack of material resources for a decent life, such as adequate food, shelter, and clothing. A society with great income inequality may have no poor people, and a society with no income inequality may have nothing but poor people” - Robert Higgs. When people think of income inequality they picture poverty and people not having basic necessities. However income inequality is not just a connection to the poor. Income inequality is strongly affected by education attainment, technology, and gender.

In the world today, it is the minorities that mostly have a difficult time where they have money issues and not have enough opportunities like being able to get an education. Everything in the world is about money. If you want or need something, you have to have money in order to obtain it. Yet this causes an issue for those who are low-income and does not get paid enough. Minorities are not able to have such an education where they will be able to afford and this causes them to not be educated as to learn how to help themselves. In order for minorities to escape poverty, there needs to be an understanding what it is that they possibly need and how the needs and wants can be better dealt with.

The history of income inequality in the United States has affected the lives of many citizens. The problem with inequality has evolved over time and has influenced previous public administration policies in the U.S.

High income countries, which account for 16 percent of the world’s population, generate around 55 percent of global income in 2010. However, low income countries, which make up 72 percent of the global population, created only just above 1 percent of global income. And with figures showing that there is an average GDP per capita in Sub Saharan Africa of $ 2,014, compared to $ 27,640 in the European Union and $ 41,399 in North America, socioeconomic inequality is clearly at its

In any given population, there is a difference between what people within the population earn. The uneven distribution of income in any given population is income inequality. In order for there to be income, there has to be several sources of income. These sources of income may be combinational or independent per person receiving the income. Income may result from wages, rent, bank account interests, salaries or even profits made in business transactions ( Stiglitz, 2012).

Unfortunately, it was estimated that roughly 1.2 billion people in 1993 lived in extreme or absolute poverty, that which Robert McNamara regards “‘a condition of life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, squalid surroundings, high infant mortality and low life expectancy as to be beneath any reasonable standard of human dignity’” (Singer 219, 220). These estimates can be projected at nearly 2 billion today. A large majority of the people living in absolute poverty resides in underdeveloped countries. Among the nearly 4.4 billion people in these countries, “3/5 lives in societies lacking basic sanitation; 1/3 go without safe drinking water; 1/4 lack adequate housing; 1/5 are undernourished, and 1.3 billion live on less than $1 a day” (Speth 1).

Income inequality is on the rise and it is evident in most cities throughout the United States. There are individuals with six to seven figure incomes and then there are individuals whose income is just enough to get by. The middle class is not as prominent as the upper and lower class. This should be the other way around. There should not be so many cities with very wealthy neighborhoods right next door to low class, rundown neighborhoods, with little middle class households. Digging deeper, 47.6% of the money in the United States belongs to individuals that receive $98,200 or more (“Distribution of U.S. family income”, 101). The middle class should be much more noticeable with the upper and lower

One can easily identify the fact that poverty is generally considered as one among the most serious problems in human life. But the mainstream society provides less importance to this serious problem because human life did undergo transformation from empathy to disinterestedness. The western nations are comparatively safe from poverty and related issues, but the third-world nations are under the threat of the same. The problems related to global poverty is unimaginable because it forces human beings to do anything, just for survival. Still, world nations, especially the developed nations, can play the most important role in alleviating poverty from the world. Thesis statement: Global poverty, the most serious problem faced by humanity primarily