One of the most challenging and elusive problem that society and countries face today is of inequality.

Inequality in all shapes and forms exists in the world be it income disparity, racial and social inequality,
gender-based inequality or a mix of all these and others. While inequality covers a broad spectrum of
topics, the main focus throughout the last century has been on economic inequality. We live in a
lopsided world where the top 10% own 79% of wealth while the bottom 50% own a meager 2% of the
world’s wealth (Piketty et al., 2022).

We can look at economic inequality from two different views. One is concerned with the outcome and
interpret inequality based on final income and wealth of individuals. While the other is concerned with
opportunities at income generation and economic participation (Afonso, LaFleur and Alarcón, 2015).
Gini Index is often used to show level of equality within a country based on income and wealth
distribution. It varies between 0 reflecting perfect equality with all people in society having exactly the
same amount of income/wealth and 1 reflecting extreme inequality with one person having everything
while the rest have nothing (de Zwart, 2019).

The United Nation (2020) on its World Social Report mentioned that inequality has widened within
countries and the extraordinary economic growth and technological improvements over the last decade
have failed to close these divides. Inequality of opportunity exists when individuals are held back due to
their race, age, gender, family background and other disadvantageous circumstances (Ferreira et al.,
2019). Inequality seems to be magnifying the gender and race disparities while dynastical wealth creates
a self-perpetuating aristocracy. As such people who come from generation of discrimination are held
back while a long history of imperialism and colonialism have made others extremely wealthy. This has
effects on your access to quality education, good healthcare, access to well paid jobs, political
participation and so on. Neckerman and Torche (2007) have summarized five major consequences of
inequality based on previous studies in their paper which are:

 Health: Inequitable to access to health care has resulted in people with greater needs not being
able to access healthcare. Higher-risk behaviors like smoking, drinking, poor diet, etc. also tend
to cluster together in low-income groups (The King’s Fund, 2020).
 Education: Kane (2004, as cited in Neckerman and Torche, 2007, p. 343) found a relational effect
of income on college enrollment. Access to good education and thereby to well paid jobs is
affected by high inequality.
 Crime & Incarceration: Many studies have found crime rates to be higher in areas with greater
inequality. As per Western (2006, as cited in Neckerman and Torche, 2007, p. 334) argues that
with very few job opportunities for disadvantaged individual has led to an increase in criminal
behavior. He also notes that inequality has an impact on policing and sentencing.
 Social Relations: Rising inequality will deepen social division, create segregation, and decrease
civic participations in areas with higher inequality (Costa and Kahn, 2003, as cited in Neckerman
and Torche, 2007, p. 334).
 Politics: The low-income citizens have less political influence as high net worth individuals lobby
for policies favoring them. Even politicians who promise redistribution are unable/ unwilling to
do so once elected.

As we can see, the consequence of inequality is huge and is one of the factors contributing to existing
gender, class, racial and social division. Solving inequality is a challenge as it involves complex economic
and political action. But it needs to be addressed and countries can no longer ignore this big divide
between the haves and the have nots. New and creative ideas at community level with progressive
policies at macro level can help remedy some of the issues inequality pose.
References:

Afonso, H., LaFleur, M., and Alarcón, D., (2015) Concepts of Inequality. [online] United Nations. Available
at: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wess/wess_dev_issues/dsp_policy_01.pdf

de Zwart, P. (2019). The Global History of Inequality. International Review of Social History, [online]
64(02), pp.309–323.

Ferreira, F. H. G., Vega, J. R. M., Paes de Barros, R., and Chanduvi, J. S. (2009), ‘Measuring Inequality of
Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean’, The World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan.

Gavi.org (2022). The stark reality of how COVID-19 has worsened global inequality. [online] Available at:
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/stark-reality-how-covid-19-has-worsened-global-
inequality?
gclid=Cj0KCQjwkt6aBhDKARIsAAyeLJ2O8V_8lud7qWKk8wfrAEKGpQOcQGcHR9NI5xs2WGh5-
51mlRzLGmcaAjMVEALw_wcB

Neckerman, K.M. and Torche, F. (2007). Inequality: Causes and Consequences. Annual Review of
Sociology, 33(1), pp.335–357.

OECD (2022). Income inequality (indicator). [online] Available at:

https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm.

Oxfam International (2022). Ten richest men double their fortunes in pandemic while incomes of 99
percent of humanity fall [online]. Available at: https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/ten-
richest-men-double-their-fortunes-pandemic-while-incomes-99-percent-humanity#:~:text=The
%20world's%20ten%20richest%20men,more%20people%20forced%20into%20poverty.

Piketty, T., Saez, E., Zucman, G., Duflo, E. and Banerjee, A. (2022). WORLD INEQUALITY REPORT 2022.
[online] Available at: https://wir2022.wid.world/insights/

The King’s Fund. (2020). What are health inequalities?  [online] Available at:
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/what-are-health-inequalities#:~:text=Inequalities
%20in%20access%20to%20and%20experience%20of%20health%20services,-Access%20to
%20health&text=Inequitable%20access%20can%20result%20in,experiences%2C%20outcomes
%20and%20health%20status.

United Nations (2020). World Social Report 2020. [online]. Available at:
https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/01/World-
Social-Report-2020-FullReport.pdf