The Theory Of Employment Inequality

Inequality exists around us. One of the inequalities is the income received by a person or member of a family. This income includes wages, salaries, pensions, and interest derived from assets. Income inequality refers to the various income within a given population. This inequality is especially high in the United States.

To begin with, structural functionalism looks at the society as a bundle of a complex system with different parts that work to support the whole. It stipulates that a society is a combination of interrelated components, which work independently, but seek to achieve a common goal, which supports the growth of the whole system. Some of the systems in the society include the government, schools, businesses, and families. In essence, all these different components are fundamental in the society as they serve different functions to develop the society. On the other hand, social conflict theory looks at the society as a system with equal components, but within the endeavors to grow to find themselves in conflicting paths. Thinking about the society, some of the trends lead to conflict among the people living together. For example, ageism,

Each person in society works with whatever role they are given and together they work to create a working system. If these roles are progressive and seem to work, they are seen as a “norm”. These become social norms and then these ideas are placed upon others and people assume it is their duty to act a certain way. If the person does not act in the way society deems normal, they are outcasted. Through the functionalist theory, if everyone is acting according to their role and performing their part of the labor, then conflict is

A social conflict theorist might explain our educational system in the U.S. as competitive like we are all competing against each other to get the best paying job. This is different from the functionalist because they would see it as all of us working together to achieve a goal.

The Functionalist theory believes that society functions so that each individual plays a specific role. Their perspective of social inequality is the belief that "inequality is not only inevitable but also necessary for the smooth functioning of society."

When the resources in a society are distributed unevenly it leads to social inequality. Often inequality is understood as being socio-economic and it is now closely associated with social inequality. “Social inequalities are differences in income, resources, power and status within and between societies. Such inequalities are maintained by those in powerful positions via institutions and social processes.” (Warwick-Booth, 2013 p.2)

Inequality is not favorable in society. There is inequality in many aspects of our society, such as race, and gender. The main inequality we look at is income inequality in the United States. The one percent of the population control a vast majority of the United States currency. The Gini coefficient has been increasing ever since the Industrial Revolution, a period where education, manufacturing, and economics has shown growth. However, income inequality has increased in the Industrial Revolution. There are many events, and causes that have led to the rise of income equality in the United States.

Conflict theory is the second major school of thought in sociology. It is a macro-level type of approach to understand social interactions in social life, just like functionalism. A difference in conflict theory is that our society is viewed as always being in a constant struggle, unlike functionalism which theorizes that our society is stable. Conflict theory is a paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change, and emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change. Some sociologists may believe that if these tensions, stresses, and struggles never existed in our society people may be more driven to achieve greatness in education, or simply more motivated to set higher goals. Just like functionalism, the conflict theory viewed society on a macro sociological level, but the individual person in our society are having their lives shaped by the economy, control and power. The conflict perspective's main idea is that there are opposing interests

Inequality is when something or someone is not being equally. There are a lot of inequalities everywhere. There are gender inequality; there are inequalities towards the LGBTQ commnunity, and there are racial inequalities too. Racial Inequality is something that can be

Women and minorities would also benefit from the increase wages, as it will close the gap in wage inequality. According to Economic Policy Institute, “The Raise the Wage Act also would help closes the gender wage gap. Not only would more women than men get a raise under the bill, but because women are especially concentrated in the very lowest-paying jobs, they also would see the largest increases in their pay.” (December 2013, Cooper) As a result, women and minorities would have advantages to an increase wages, as it will make them feel that they are getting fair pay for their work.

Income inequality in the United States has risen significantly. Today, Income inequality is at its’ widest point since the 1970s (CSNBC). Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population (website).

According to the OECD, the term inequality in the opposite of equity can be defined as evenness

“1]. How does social inequality impact people of different nationalities [ethnicities & races], classes, and genders in society.”

Functionalist theory is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It can be argued that the functionalist theory has made a significant contribution to the study of society. It originates from the work of Emile Durkheim who suggests that social order is possible and society remains stable due to the functioning of several institutions. Everything has a specific function in society and society will always function in harmony. The main institutions studied by functionalism are the family, the education system, religion and crime and deviance.

Functionalist and Marxist are macro sociological theories that give a better understanding of the society. Functionalist theory is referred to as the consensus whilst the Marxist theory is known as the conflict theory. Key features of both theories are going to be identified and discussed.