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Social Class Divide As A Report By The Equality And Human Rights Commission

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Social divisions are one of, if not, the main political concerns within out society today. Policies have been implemented to try and overcome these social issues but as will be discussed and argued in this essay, it is clear that either current government legislation isn’t working, or not enough work is being done locally and in government to tackle the problem. This essay will discuss the social class divide as a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (2010) describes how people living in poverty and who are looked at as members of the lower social class are targets of prejudice and injustice in Scotland. I will focus on the inequalities that exist within these socially constructed groups, such as wealth, health, and…show more content…
Another study completed by the Scottish Government helps us to see what kind of people are living in poverty, and contrary to what most people might assume. Most families that are living in poorer circumstances contain at least one full time working adult. It has also been shown how families where parents are unemployed are better off on benefits rather than earning minimum wage. This surely shows that the current minimum wage is not doing the job it was implemented to do, as families aren’t being able to get by and maintain a good quality of life on these salaries. Supporting the argument that the living wage being introduced should be a government priority. This would thereby close the gap between the employed and unemployed in Scotland. Other government policies that are being introduced are also said to be a cause to rising poverty levels in Scotland. For example, The Guardian (2015) published an article describing how welfare cuts have put over 700,00 people into poverty since 2012 in the UK. Scotland is also severely affected as shown by a statement from Nicola Sturgeon (Left Foot Forward, 2015) discussing how the proposed cut on tax credits will have a devastating affect on 20% of the most deprived families, losing 8% of their income. This leaves the impression that rather than poverty being reduced,
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