Income Inequality Essay

Superior Essays
America takes pride in believing that it is one of the most successful democratically governed countries. The concept of the American dream is that every US citizen has an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity. However, the validity of this ideal is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. Despite the Civil Rights Movement, which helped to change the viewpoints regarding various races, and the Women’s Rights Movement, which aided equal rights between genders, there have still been significant instances of increasing inequality. Particularly, income inequality. Income inequality is a rising issue between all social classes and races. Due to the evolving job market, outsourcing of products to other developing …show more content…
To begin, the OECD emphasizes the importance of women and more diverse groups of people becoming more involved in the workforce (Mitchell). The wage gap between genders and ethnic groups would remain a concern. However, by having more people work, a family with multiple incomes would help decrease the amount of income inequality (Mitchell). The organization also focuses on the importance for “policies for the quantity and quality of jobs; jobs that offer career and investments possibilities” (Mitchell). Along with the job policy, a “tax-and-transfer System” was suggested for the “redistribution of wealth” (Mitchell). The wealth redistribution entails a tax policy targeted at the rich that is more proportional to their income, benefits, etc. Finally, was the need for continued education and skill growth, specifically targeted at the lower income class (Mitchell). By continuing society’s education and skill growth, the U.S. is making its citizens more equipped for the work force. By embracing the global redistribution of wealth, acceptance of more diverse employers, and continuing the education process the U.S. will be able to gradually reduce the income

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In order to keep profits high, companies are outsourcing jobs to other countries such as Japan and China. The reason being is large companies are always…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For many years, many Americans “considered the prospect of growing income inequality to be unacceptably undemocratic.” (Noah, 18). Income inequality is at its highest level since before the Great Depression and it is a situation that divides Americans. The best way to promote equal justice in American and the best way to maintain strong economic growth is to have…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Economic inequality is a relevant issue in any society. There is controversy around income inequality, as people debate whether it should be fixed, or if it really is an issue at all. Many politicians claim income inequality is a serious issue that needs to be resolved for the wellbeing of those struggling in poverty. The gap between rich and poor should be closed because people are struggling to survive with low pay, thousands of people are living in poverty, and individuals are working longer hours for lower wages.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After reading the “The Income Inequality Debate”, I started to think more about the financial situations that I am currently in and how I am preparing myself for the future. The videos were very informing on the topic and helped me actually visualize what was going on. The video “Wealth Inequality in America”, seemed like a more detailed version of “Is America Dreaming?: Understanding Social Mobility” so I got more from it while watching it. What stuck out most to me were the aspects of education and how it really influences those percentages.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite the minor changes, the American Dream has always sought out to be about social mobility, equality, and equal opportunity. However, it was never attainable for everyone. Individuals that were not White, male, heterosexual, landowners, slave owners, educated, wealthy, well-connected faced intentional, institutionalized and marginalizing hardships. Such discrimination prevented them achieving the so-called American dream which contradicted the founding principles which America and the American Dream was built on. Today, however, the American dream remains unattainable because minorities, those that do not resemble the people which the dream was intended for, face disparities in education, income and overall quality of life.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Declaration of Independence are the words “all men are created equal”. However, more than two hundred years later, this is still a concept that the United States of America struggles to uphold. One of the most noticeable and growing inequalities today is income inequality. This depends largely on the contemporary american class structure, which uses things like education, income, and careers to determine whether an individual has high, middle, or low socioeconomic status. In America, one percent of the population holds more than one third of the entire country’s wealth, including consumer durables and financial assets (Mantsios 179).…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The dream of equality and happiness for all is still an illusion. According to the article “Youth, Jobs and the American Dream” by Robert L. Dilenchneider, “…9.5 million people are unemployed today in this country of which 7.8 percent are Hispanics and 10.7 percent African Americans…” Like in “The Great Gatsby” the upward mobility is almost nonexistent. Working hard or having a degree doesn’t guaranty the possibility of a happy and fulfilling life. In our days we see how people still devoted to the money. People buy magazines and fallow television shows just to know about the life of the wealthy folks of this country.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wealth Inequality Essay

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1976 , the wealthiest one percent of Americans owned 19% of all the private material wealth in the US Today, they own over 40% of all wealth. Their share now exceeds the wealth owned by the bottom 92% of the US population combined. (Edward N. Wolff, Top Heavy: A Study of Increasing Inequality in America Twentieth Century Fund: 1995). From 1976 till the present , the power of the wealthy has increased greatly meaning their power has increased as well. When a certain group constantly gains power they will abuse it and this can be seen with the unfair wealth distribution in this country.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Most of the rich people believe the strategy of trickle down economic. When their corporations earn money, and they can create more job opportunities for the lower class people. However, the goal of trickle down has never existed. The wine stayed on the top cup. As Nicholas Fitz expressed in the article “Economic Inequality: It’s Far Worse Than You Think” People have no idea how worse is the gap between the rich people and the poor people.…

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Empirical data, such as the Gini Index and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, demonstrate the income inequality and total output of a country per person, respectively. The more equal a country’s income distribution is within its population, the lower its Gini Index, however the more unequal a country’s income distribution, the higher it’s Gini Index will be (Central Intelligence Agency). The Dominican Republic, Denmark, and Russia illustrate an interesting relationship between Gini Index and GDP per capita. The Gini Indices for the Dominican Republic, Denmark and Russia are 47.1, 42, and 24.8, respectively, whereas the GDPs (per capita) are $15,000, $26,000, and $45,700, respectively.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hunter Depalma ECON 221 Butler February 13, 2015 Racism & Income Disparity: Income Effect Income disparity is an ongoing complication within the United States not only between men and women, but between races. Many people in our country are poor, and the improvement in their lives that the ending of income inequality can bring them is great. For the most part this shifts demand curves from the incomes increasing and decreasing, negatively and positively. Some argue that our society here in America is set up to where the lower working class cannot escape poverty. We have provisions and burdens in our economy that will keep regressing the lower class.…

    • 2619 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jobless Ghettos Analysis

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the United States, there is the belief that an individual, no matter who they are or where they come from, has the ability to succeed as long as they work hard for what they want to achieve. This belief is known as “The American Dream”. Despite “The American Dream” being a hegemonic belief, in reality it is not true. Within the United States there are systems that uphold inequality. These systems of inequality make it difficult for certain groups of people to achieve the so-called “American Dream” no matter their abilities.…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Inequality We live in a country that is full of opportunity, or so we are told. In early America you had the chance to work hard and become successful, but in today’s society working, hard doesn’t guarantee success. In Brandon King’s article, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” King believes that the American Dream is more alive than ever but has morphed from people wanting to be filthy rich to wanting a stable, middle class lifestyle (611).…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    sually, when one belongs to the middle class it’s subjective to the place of inhabitance. In my case I’d say I’ve experienced fifty-shades of middle class inequality. It was recorded that between 1979-2007 the “median family income (in U.S.) rose by 35 percent, while incomes for those at the 99th percentile rose by 278 percent” . Consequently, this extent of economic inequality has applied pressures, set boundaries and limited the opportunities available to me.…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Income Inequality

    • 1507 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Income inequality is the uneven distribution of assets among a population. In India, income inequality has been rapidly increasing over the pass years. Due to the expeditious growth of population, the discipline of the society begins to collapse, resulting in a rise of many inequalities in health, education and gender. In India, the top 1% holds nearly half of the country’s wealth and the rest of India owns only the remaining quarter. This unequal distribution of wealth is caused by the failure of India’s Modi government – a government system created by Narendra Modi– which is the direct link to India’s poverty.…

    • 1507 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays