Socio-economic inequality is an issue in Singapore. In 2015, the Gini coefficient, a statistic that tracks the distribution of income within a country where 1 represents complete inequality and 0 represents complete equality, ranked Singapore as one of the most unequal countries among first-world countries at 0.412, after taxes and transfers. To compare, the United States and United Kingdom were at 0.345, Australia at 0.336 and Germany at 0.295, after taxes and transfers (Ong, 2015). An uneven distribution of wealth also highlights the severity of socio-economic inequality. A global wealth report released by Credit Suisse in October 2015 stated that Singapore’s mean wealth per adult (aged 20 and above) was $367,944. However, the median wealth per adult was $114,924. This gap …show more content…
Meritocracy is the principle where a person’s ability and effort is the most important determinant for his or her socio-economic advancement, and is independent of one’s family background or other ascribed statuses. However, the socio-economic inequality in Singapore now sits extremely uneasily with meritocracy, because it emphasises one’s family background and other ascribed factors over one’s talents and abilities. For instance, in 2011, more than half of all students in top schools such as Raffles Institution had fathers with university degrees, yet amongst the four neighbourhood secondary schools surveyed, the highest percentage was only 13.1 percent at Chai Chee Secondary. (Ng, 2011) This data hints that admission to a better school hinges quite significantly on one’s parent’s qualifications, and not entirely on a student’s abilities. As a person’s education is a significant factor in determining one’s economic status, it can be seen that one’s family background is also an important factor in determining one’s future economic status, hence showing that meritocracy is no longer a principle that is strictly
Wealth, race, gender, and mental illness has torn society apart and lead to inequality. These major reasons for inequality has affected everyone in its path leading to major consequences as well as issues and problems. In China, a new found wealth has left the social classes more divided and issues are beginning to rise. Meanwhile in the U.S., wealth is destroying students and unequal views toward specific types of people are weakening the patriotic bond. To begin, there are many types and factors that play a part in inequality and the consequences of societies from it, but one of the main reasons and apparent factors is wealth.
Today, there are endless arguments about the existing of the American dream. In “They say, I say” by Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst. There are four article that I have evaluated. The upside of income inequality – Gary S. Becker and Kevin M. Murphy, American Dream: dead, alive, or on hold – Brandon King, Bring on more immigrant entrepreneur – Shayan Zadeh, America remains the world’s beacon of success – Tim Roemer
Many solutions, such as social investment, early childhood education, job training for young adults are avenues for addressing the shrinking middle class. Many of these ideas have been around since the 1990s, and most know that they will work, however, no one wants to pay the cost of such social investments. Thus, this is a fine example of how one topic, income inequality, can be addressed from two different angles, that of economist and that of sociologists, and what contributes to the inequality can be supported based on what is actually measured. In this specific comparison, due to the differences in disciplines addressing the same issue, the variables measured are completely different and as a result, yield very different results.
Ascribed characteristics (like race, age, family composition, gender) decides the one’s class. For example, generally, high class family’s children have high social class. Family under female householders are poorer than male householders. Education, job opportunities, health, family life, political participation are influenced by social class. The people from lower class family face hard time staying in primary education, when people from high class family easily get
Argued Davis and Moore thesis states that social stratification is universal because of its functional consequences. in caste system, people are rewarded for performing the duties of their position of birth, in class systems, unequal rewards attract the ablest people to
Present at least two different sociological approaches to social inequality and discuss these approaches with reference to a concrete problem area of contemporary relevance. Social inequality can be found in various aspects of society, the question is if inequality is only caused by the lack of economical estate or if other reasons are underlining it. This essay argues how Max Weber distinguishes between social class and strata and how one often leads to the other. Furthermore, it presents Pierre Bourdieu’s notions of habitus, capital and fields as an explanation of how people can achieve different social statuses within different fields because of their capitals. At last, the two different sociological approaches to social inequality is used to analyze the case of non-traditional students at Australian universities and how they are socially disadvantaged compared to traditional students because of their lack economical support, language skills, educational skills and social relations.
The United States exhibits a wide difference of wealth distribution between rich and poor people, which is larger than any other major developed country.
Wealth and Inequality in America Inequality The inequality in America has increased over time; the gap between the rich and the poor has become a problem that many Americans don’t see. Inequality is the extent of income which is distributed unequally among the citizenry. The inequality of the United has a large gap between the poor and the rich making it unfair to the population, the rich are becoming wealthier and the poor remain poor. The article “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%”, authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz describes that there is a 1 percent amount of American’s who are consuming about a quarter of the United States income in a year.
There are people who work 40 hours a week and are still in poverty; this is a highly prominent issue. The uneven distribution of wealth, known as wealth inequality, is a problem that plagues not only America but also the world. With wealth inequality, there are two main issues and one solution to those issues. The problems are that the wealth in America is unevenly distributed and there people in America who work 40 hours a week and still have very little money. Wealth inequality is the root of all problems faced in America.
3.1 How income inequality affect on people live in America. The income gap in America affects people, who live in this country. The issue has a strong impact in America’s society; in particular, the nutritional disparity between rich and poor people. In USA, the food gap becomes the top signal for the class distinction, but it used to be clothing or fashion. The food inequality in America is not only influencing the poverty, it is also cost hundreds of billions of dollar per year because of Non Communicable Diseases (NDCs) (Ferdman, 2014).
America prides itself on being one of the most effective democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all people have equivalent political freedoms and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of social equality is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. Economic inequality in the US has expanded drastically. The wealth gap has had drastic changes over the past 35 years.
The American Dream has the nationality ethos of the United States. It is a collection of goals that everyone born in America has freedom, equal opportunity for prosperity and upward social mobility. They can achieve through hard work in a society with few obstacles. However, the fact is cruel. Nowadays, America’s economic inequality is growing.
Home assignment #3 Educational system reflect social inequalities. And my analysis include sociological conflict theory like a key. And economical factor that affect educational, professional and social progression. Social conflict theory sees social life as a competition and focuses on the distribution of resources, power, and inequality. Social conflict theory is a macro-oriented paradigm in sociology that views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change.
Introduction All over the world, there is an obvious contrast between the living standards and lifestyle of the rich and the poor. Moreover, there is a large gap between the populations of poor and wealthy. This is known as the Wealth Gap, and it is caused by Wealth Inequality. Wealth Income/Inequality is defined as “The unequal distribution of assets within a population.” Wealth is defined as more than just the amount of income a person has, but instead the value of a person’s assets.
Inefficient policies all around the world and especially in our country are contributing to problems in the society. And the biggest problem which the world faces today is the problem of “Poverty” and “Inequality”. It is hard for one to determine whether poverty causes inequality or is it the other way around because both these problems are interrelated. Poverty is something which is caused due to transferring wealth in to the hands of a specific group and the unjust policies of the government. And inequality is discriminating a person in all spheres of life which gives a rise to sense of deprivation.