Social Inequality In America
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but why? Many subcategories of inequality lead to the bigger heading of social inequality. Social inequality is the inability of people to have equal opportunity (Fonza and Owen). Social inequality and urban poverty are such rampant problems today due to systematic racism, pay inequality, and gentrification.
Through discriminatory federal processes such as redlining, minorities still struggle to regain lost footing from decades previous. A large portion of this is the government’s part in exacerbating “existing social inequalities, particularly those related to race and ethnicity in the United States…,” and “…different levels of access to homeownership” (Chen, et. all, 152). This is pertinent to urban poverty as those left without homes are at a disadvantage for everything from work to living. This matters because it creates a cycle as a child’s chances for future economic mobility have been found to be related directly to where they grow up (Badger). One generation of oppression alone can be catastrophic, …show more content…
As wealth inequality grows, those struggling at low wages “…can’t afford a decent life,” (Lowrey). Stretching back to the tenements of the inner cities, people lived where they could for their income or social status, and for many, that involved sub-standard conditions that bred diseases and caused even more trouble for its residents to climb up the economic ladder (Chen, et. all 186). Those who grow up in poorer urban areas also have more limited access to primary and secondary education that would be considered second-rate in a higher affluence area; this puts the children at a disadvantage as they must struggle to gain acceptance into college which is now a pre-requisite for most jobs that pay above minimum wage (Elliott). This is a cycle – those born disadvantaged must break it to
Through discriminatory federal processes such as redlining, minorities still struggle to regain lost footing from decades previous. A large portion of this is the government’s part in exacerbating “existing social inequalities, particularly those related to race and ethnicity in the United States…,” and “…different levels of access to homeownership” (Chen, et. all, 152). This is pertinent to urban poverty as those left without homes are at a disadvantage for everything from work to living. This matters because it creates a cycle as a child’s chances for future economic mobility have been found to be related directly to where they grow up (Badger). One generation of oppression alone can be catastrophic, …show more content…
As wealth inequality grows, those struggling at low wages “…can’t afford a decent life,” (Lowrey). Stretching back to the tenements of the inner cities, people lived where they could for their income or social status, and for many, that involved sub-standard conditions that bred diseases and caused even more trouble for its residents to climb up the economic ladder (Chen, et. all 186). Those who grow up in poorer urban areas also have more limited access to primary and secondary education that would be considered second-rate in a higher affluence area; this puts the children at a disadvantage as they must struggle to gain acceptance into college which is now a pre-requisite for most jobs that pay above minimum wage (Elliott). This is a cycle – those born disadvantaged must break it to