Social Inequality vs. Social Mobility - Report Example

Social Inequality vs. Social Mobility Introduction Social inequality refers to the different relational processes that exist in a society limited to social status, circle or social class of certain groups of people. The most considered and emerging domains of social inequality are the access to freedom of speech, voting rights, assembly, access to proper healthcare, education, travelling, vacationing, transportation and housing facilities, access to property rights and other variants of social services and social goods. Social inequalities are also evident from the quality of occupation, family, neighborhood life, access to credit and job satisfaction among others. All these aspects cause a sociological imbalance in the society, underpinning other fundamental aspects within a society. According to a study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2014 indicates that a correlation of lower net inequalities and faster growth and proper redistribution processes in the society is portrayed through the impacts of social inequalities in economic growth. Thesis Statement: It is vital to evaluate the reasons and impacts of social inequality in relation to social mobility in the modern societies. Analysis from a Global Perspective Currently, the levels of inequality in the society among the people are based on many factors. Among them is the distribution of income. According to Lareau (2015), the distribution of income level is very uneven. This is caused by the existing gap in the social hierarchy of people in various societies. While promoting social inequality, from emerging elites and wealthy persons, the gap continues growing. In 2010, the high income earning countries only accounted for about 16% of the overall population and the income level was 55% of the total global income. This clearly explains the way there is a big gap between the high earning and the low earning countries across the globe. In addition, the overall population of the low income countries comprises to about 72% which is a huge percentage. There is a huge difference between the gross domestic product of the high income countries and the low income countries. The difference is quite big as the GDP in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010 was $ 2,014, whereas the regional GDP in European Union was $ 27,640 and in North America was around $ 41,399. The difference and inequality do create a huge difference in the lifestyle of people and the way people in high income countries and low income countries live and spend differs a lot. To measure this social inequality among the high and low income countries is been done by using the Gini co-efficient. This Gini co-efficient does help in measuring the income gap that exists between two selected populations. The Gini co-efficient calculation for few of the countries including both the high and low income is been shown in the below diagram. (Source: Andrewsa and Leigh, 2009) The chart clearly shows the income difference between the countries. The gross domestic product for Cyprus and Chile did differ by a huge amount. This clearly shows the amount of inequality that does exist among the countries which does impact a lot on the citizens and also on the overall global economic growth. The less income countries are the one’s which are looking to grow so that they can also become a developed or a developing country while the high income countries do try and help the low income countries to grow so that the overall stability in the global economy is achieved and there is a huge scope in the increment of the overall global economy. According to Pohoski (1986), social inequality can be understood from two perspectives; one that correlates to the stratification of the different societal systems and another that correlates to the access of societal persons to similar groups. All these perspectives, however, point to the earlier issues of different economic growths among different global societies and increase of wealthy persons from various social strata (Tieben, Hofacker and Biedinger, 2013). This creates numerous implications heightening levels of social inequality. These levels of social inequality do impact a lot upon the economic growth of the countries and also of the world, eventually effecting in a huge way in the process of reduction of poverty. This creates situations where a smaller section of the populous is way above the line of poverty while a larger population still exists bellow the line of poverty. This difference and gap among the two type of population does create a lot of problems for any government trying to achieve its socio-economic objectives. Social inequality is currently divulging into a paradigm of political centrality among major Western Societies such as Canada (Goldthorpe, 2012). The proposed works of economists and epidemiologists have ignored the sociological propositions, as inequality now relies on a relational aspect rather than to an attribution model. With social stratification, classes and statuses in the society should be comprehensible in order to provide absolute rational perspectives on the causes and solutions to social inequalities. Basing on a socio-political ideology, the overall growth of a country in all respect is hindered by the political and social process in a society, breading social problems that hinder a government’s effort makes of maintaining social equity, making it more complex for the government to implement all its plans (Fitzpatrick, 2002). Resultant social problems that arise from this inequality include theft, robbery and murder among others. Eventually, societal instability caves in, placing incumbent social pressures from the already established classes of persons. Social inequality creates a less stable and less efficient and growing economic system that stiffens the growth of the country (Bailey, 2013). It also reduces the level of participation in the growth of the country by all the members of the society. The widening gap of societal inequality among the rich controls the market mostly as they have the greater share of the total income. The rich people typically look to spend even less part of their income than what the poor person does, creating an unequal economic growth in the society. These inequalities do cause a huge threat for the development of the society as they reduce the pace of poverty reduction and also hinder a lot in the economic growth of the society by increasing the level of crimes (Weede, 2008). In relation to social mobility, societal inequality in the society affects the involvement of an intergenerational mobility. This does affect the provision of good health for all, resulting to uneven access to health care facilities and education. This is because of the unequal distribution of social and economic opportunities and resources that people get; thus creating a huge impact on poverty. In turn, human potential and other attributes are unexploited. All these do lead to a less creative and dynamic society. Sociologists assert that such impacts takes longer periods to revert, before which enough damage is made to a society’s social structure and the entire global economic situation. It creates a lot of insecurity for the population in the society and instability from social and economic and political spectrums. All these do hinder the growth of a nation, and social interaction of people living in the same society. For instance, the global demand of products and consumerism varies because of the spending power of people varies and, thus affects the economic environment (Svallfors, 2007). In addition, companies looking into global markets do face a lot of problems from social inequality due to variations of products and service demands (Boliver & Byrne, 2013). The level of inequality does affect the education level among the children’s as well. People in high income countries have high income can higher education necessary in learning and enhance their skills. Thus, social mobility in this case is pretty high as the parents and the adults invest in the skills and knowledge of the children’s thus allowing them to take control over the family after the adults retire. On the other hand, people in low income countries cannot afford their higher education for their children. This takes a toll on their social behavior that determines their co-existence with other members in an economically demanding society. Social mobility decreases a lot because the parents fail to have faith over the youth; the cradle of the society. In addition, it affects future careers of the children as they fail to take on empowering careers, plunging into crime and other social-related problems. Conclusion The increasing levels of social inequality affect the social mobility and as a result, social and economic growth of the entire world is inhibited. In addition, social inequalities in the society have become major causes of concern for the sociologist and economists across the globe due to the negative impacts of widening social gaps among groups living in a same societal setting. Social inequality has long term effects on the growth and mobility of a society, especially when inequality continues to prevail for a long period and tends to increase over time. References Bailey, C. (2013). Local Solutions to Inequality: Steps toward Fostering a Progressive Social Movement. Rural Sociology, 78 (4), pp 411-428. Boliver, V. & Byrne, D. (2013). Social mobility: the politics, the reality, the alternative, Soundings, pp 50-59. Goldthorpe, J. H. (2012). Back to Class and Status: Or Why a Sociological View of Social Inequality Should Be Reasserted. Enero-Marzo, pp 201-216. Lareaua, A. (2015). Cultural Knowledge and Social Inequality. American Sociological Review, 80(1), pp 1-27. Pohoski, M. (1986). Social Inequality and Social Mobility. International Journal of Sociology, pp 30-59. Svallfors, S. (2007). Analyzing Inequality: Life Chances and Social Mobility in Comparative Perspective. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Tieben, N., Hofacker, D. & Biedinger, N. (2013). Social mobility and inequality in the life course: Exploring the relevance of context. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Vol. 32, pp 1-6. Read More