I have always been very interested in inequality, and how it affects the world, I am growing up in. The typical stereotype of inequality and probably the one most talked about is gender inequality however, I decided to look into income inequality, and I was surprisingly shocked.
An interesting article I read called Inequality: is it rising, and can we reverse it? It was written by the economic correspondent for the guardian Richard Partington.
Income inequality is on the rise since 1970 and wealth has been distributed particularly unevenly since the 2008-09 financial crisis. As Sir Angus Deaton, the Nobel prize-winning economist who is leading the five-year review of inequality said: “There’s a sense that London is gobbling up everything and there are cities that are doing OK, but there are large parts of the country where that’s not the case at all.”
How do we measure it? The main measurement used is called the Gini index, (Gini index explaination) which gives a score from 0 to 100 to measure the distribution of a nation’s income.
Are there other ways to measure? For example, the average chief executive pay in 2017 was 145 times higher than the average worker’s pay, which had increased from 47 times in 1998.
Since the financial crisis, the public perception of inequality has increased.
John Darkow / Columbia Daily Tribune, Cagle Cartoons
Other arguably more important forms of inequality? For example, the standard of living, gender or age. Should these be taken into account?
The fact that shocked me was 8 out of 10 British companies pay men more than women.
So, how do we reverse inequality? The solution for the past four decades has been to increase economic growth, so everyone gets more.
I believe we need to find an antidote for inequality.
EIBM Georgina Wood 