Income Inequality In The United States: A Comparative Analysis

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.

Amongst all of the presidential candidates of the 2016 race, one in particular stands above the rest. Bernie Sanders, running as a democrat, holds the highest capability to better the nation amongst all other candidates.

America prides itself on being one of the most successful democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all citizens have equal civil liberties and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of democracy is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. “The dominant view holds that economic development and modernization are the key to the continued growth of democracy” (Snider and Faris 2001; United Nations, 2011). In the last decade especially the American Society has had significant moments of increasing equality. In 1960 the Civil Rights Movement changed how different races were viewed. Also in the 1960s the Women’s Right Movement push for equal rights between genders. Both of these

Without realizing it, most of us live in a bubble. This impermeable layer makes us oblivious to what's going on in the world and ignorant to the truth. The media is powerful, but there is a huge difference between seeing something, and experiencing it in person. After 17 years of living in that bubble, I finally popped it and opened my eyes to a world I had never felt before. Colombia, like many developing nations, faces rampant income inequality that acts as a huge barrier for the country to make a leap towards economic prosperity. But to truly understand this great monster in our world called "income inequality", you have to experience both extreme living conditions. And during the summer, I was able to do just that. In 24 hours. With an

What is Income Inequality? Well “Income Inequality is the unequal distribution” of family or individual wage over the different individuals in an economy. Income inequality is often showen up “as the percentage of income to a percentage of population” (Staff.) Income inequality creates and impacts the U.S. in different aspects, whether it is distinguished by “region, gender, education and social status” (Staff), as well as there are certain causes and potential solutions to resolve the problems that Income Inequality creates.

society, the idea of income inequality is a frequent topic of argument. Many believe that a large income inequality distribution has a negative effect on a society, while others feel that it has very minor, nonexistent, or even positive effect. Some of the factors that affect the income inequality in the United States are low minimum wages, education, and discrimination of race and gender. The swelling income inequality gap in the United States has created numerous social, health, and human capital problems. There is a ton of information to digest regarding who the majority of money is split between and who is actually benefitting from it. There are numerous factors that affect the income inequality and the data associated with the results of it are rather

The United States of America is vastly known for their rugged individualism. That is, the fascination with the belief that hard work and the free market will allow an individual to rise to the top. Since many of us were small children, we were told by our parents to pursue a college education, and once that is done, then our lives will fall into place.

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.

The debate over whether income inequality should be an important topic in comparison to other issues that our nation faces. Income inequality an be defined as “the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population (dictionary.com).”According to the Census Bureau who reported that there has been a “rise in income inequality in America, the gap between rich and poor in New York is getting worse (CQ Researcher, pg. 991)”. Right America has one of the largest inequality gap, in comparison to India and the African nation of Burkina Faso (CQ Researcher, pg. 991)”. This debate over income inequality has been inconsistent. Some do not see an issue with the way that money is distributed, while other see this issue as a major problem that our nation faces and strategies/ policies needs to be implemented to address this issue. I

The hot topic of inequality is a widespread issue within the United States and many other countries alike. The gap appears to be continually expanding between the extremely wealthy and the extremely impoverished. The author states that, “To really grasp the essential meaning of economic inequality requires examining how income is measured in relation to demographic changes, geographic differences, and shifting fortunes over the life course” (Gilbert 11). Determining exactly how inequality works, and is measured, becomes very difficult when considering all that plays into a viable resolution. In addition, the diverse differences that exist for income expenditures from state to state play a major role. For example, “...when regional price differences

The highest earning fifth of U.S. families earned 59.1% of all income, while the richest earned 88.9% of all wealth. A big gap between the rich and poor is often associated with low social mobility, which contradicts the American ideal of equal opportunity. Levels of income inequality are higher than they have been in almost a century, the top one percent has a share of the national income of over 20 percent (Wilhelm). There are a variety of factors that influence income inequality, a few of which will be discussed in this paper. Rising income inequality is caused by differences in life expectancy, rapidly increases in the incomes of the top 5 percent, social trends, and shifts in the global economy.

In America, we can describe wealth inequality as the unequal distribution of assets within a population. “The United States exhibits wider disparities of wealth between rich and poor than any other major developed nation” (Wealth inequality). The way wealth is defined is by equating the net worth which is the total sum of you assets minus liabilities. What includes in assets is everything that you own such as personal residence, stocks, real estate, and retirement accounts. Now, liabilities cover what a household owes such as, credit card balance, student loan, a car loan, etc…

One of the largest social issues in America today is income and wealth inequality. Income inequality is when income is distributed unevenly amongst a population and consists of wages, salaries, interest on a savings account, dividends from shares of stock, rent, and profits from selling something for more than you paid for it (Mendelson). Wealth inequality is the unequal distribution of assets within a population. A person’s wealth is attributed to what a person owns which can include their residence, cash in savings accounts, investments in stocks and bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts (Aaron). Those who are unaffected typically brush off income and wealth inequality as none important. They view those who complain about barely making it by, as lazy and in their position of poverty by

In an economy, income inequality means the unequal distribution of household or individual income over many participants. It is also often presented as a percentage of income for a given percentage of the population. Most people associated income inequality with the concept of income fairness. Assuming that the rich have a larger share of the income of a country than the population in general, then they acknowledge it unfair. What causes the income inequality might be vary? It could be region, education, sex as well as social status. Income is the amount of money you earn from your job or investment. However, wealth is the amount you own, such as car, home, retirement amount, saving accounts, and so on. Even though, we are not living in the

Do the dynamics of income inequality lead fatally to deep economic stagnation as it was firstly recognized by Karl Marx in the 19th century? Or was Kuznets right about do the balancing forces of growth, competition, and technological progress lead in later stages of the economic growth to decrease inequality and greater harmony among the classes, as Simon Kuznets thought in the 20th century (Kuznets, 1955)? These central questions have attracted the attention of a diverse group of scholars during the past sixty five years. Currently the most dangerous imbalance is in the distribution of wealth and income. Plutarch stated: “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics”. Income inequality has become