Importance Of Economic Equality

Introduction

Economic inequality, described as the gap between rich and poor, income inequality, wealth disparity, wealth and income differences or wealth gap.It is the state of affairs in which assets, wealth, or income are distributed unequally among individuals in a group, among groups in a population, or among countries. The issue of economic inequality can implicate notions of equity, equality of outcome, equality of opportunity, and even life expectancy. Opinions differ on the importance of the concept of economic inequality and its effects. Some studies have emphasized inequality as a growing social problem. While some inequality promotes investment, too much inequality is destructive. Income inequality can hinder long term growth.

The high proportion of this class of citizens in states such as Haryana (both rural and urban) and Punjab (rural) is well-known. In other states, urbanization and fast economic growth are driving the trends. On the other hand, quite interestingly, these states have seen an increase in inequality with the Gini coefficient—a measure of inequality, with 0 signifying perfect equality and 1 absolute inequality—either showing an increase over the past decade or that measure being above the all-India figures. Kerala, for example, had 34.1% of persons living in rural areas being in the top 10% in 2011-12. It had a Gini coefficient of 0.35 in 2011-12, higher than the all-India (rural) number of 0.28. Haryana, which saw a 6.1 percentage point increase in the richest 10% people in its urban areas from 2004-05 to 2011-12, also saw an increase in urban inequality. The coefficient there rose from 0.33 in 2004-05 to 0.38 in 2011-12. The all-India figure for urban areas in 2011-12 was

Given the lack of viable employment opportunities, self-employment accounts for roughly 60 per cent of India 's working population. A big chunk of this includes low-paying activities like hawking magazines, flowers at traffic signals and the like. Casual workers (who get jobs at times and remain unpaid at others) account for 30 per cent, while only 10 per cent of the working population is in regular employment. Moreover, if one looks at the disaggregated data of employment in terms of educational attainment, unemployment is least among rural unskilled workers while it is highest among educated urban youth.

Conclusion

The causal mechanisms that drive rich and poor states apart are therefore straightforward: a lack of infrastructural investment and poor fiscal management. These problems can be easily rectified by the Indian federal state. Sadly, the rise in inequality in India is not big enough news yet. But if the state does not act immediately to uplift the poor, increasing economic polarization could spur social unrest.

Thus, while India 's policy makers are basking under the glory of relatively high GDP growth rate, the increasingly poorer quality of growth is a reminder that they have failed the very people they claim to represent.

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