The United States experiences a high sense of degree. Of all the modern industrial nations, the US has some of the richest and also the poorest people. This is a very disturbing statistics though explains who much of the inequality exists in the country. There are different perspectives which explain who these inequalities happen more so in the US. This includes the functionalism conflict theorist and social intuitionist. The income is in the type of salaries, wages, pensions, and interest derived from assets. The inequality stems from changes with the economic structure in the US coupled with the shift in the government policy. 80% of citizens in the nation work in a service-related job, where they get paid lesser than their manufacturing sector counterparts. There is a growing inequality between different social classes in the United States, where most of these inequalities are as a result of the out of income received by individuals.
Over the last 30 years, there has been a substantial increase in inequality in the US. The general level of disparity is progressively getting to the extreme level which triumphed prior to the great depression. The lower tail inequality rose sharply in the 1980s which was a contradiction of the upper tail inequality which increased steadily since the 1980s (Entwisle). As a result of the social inequalities in the country, there are more than 750,000 homeless Americans in any given night. One out of five of these homeless Americas is considered to be chronically homeless (Arrow, Kenneth and Bowles 21). The ranks of these sheltered homeless include unequal numbers of blacks, middle-aged people between 31 to 50 and males, disabled and veterans (Arrow, Kenneth and Bowles 222). On the educational sector the College graduates have experienced growth in the median weekly earnings from the 1979. On the other hand, high school dropouts have seen their real median weekly earnings weaken by about 22%.
The social class has been changing in US society. According to the U.S. government, in 2012, the median family income ranked at $62,241. There is a huge gap between the top 1 % and the rest of the population, where the super-rich are few, with the rest of the population ranking below them. The US is divided into social classes which are defined by the incomes and the financial capability, where there is a huge gap between these social; classes (Arrow, Kenneth and Bowles 22). A factor that may be contributing to social inequality in the country is the issue of gender pay gaps. Throughout the 20th century, the average females got about 60% of what the average men earned. This contributed to unrest in the country where activists tried their best to fight for the reduction in the gap in equal pay among both genders. Since 1970, the women began earning at least 8-% of what men earned, though up to now the gap is yet to be changed. This leads to inequality since women are discriminated against their male counterparts, yet perform a similar task at the workplaces (Ryscavage 5).
Other factors leading to social inequality in the country is the issue of racial gaps in education. There are least high school dropouts amongst the whites. The dropouts are however highest amongst Hispanics. On the other hand, college enrollment rates amongst the blacks are least in the US, whereas amongst the whites are the highest. This hence shows discrepancies in the future with regards to getting employment opportunities. The racial gaps in education make some races more financial privileged than the rest in the future since most education groups have the highest chances of getting great employment opportunities. Racial discrimination is a factor that has led to social inequality in the labor market. Some industries up to date discriminate individuals against race. The whole individuals have more probability of getting employment opportunities, despite qualifications (Ryscavage 10).
The issue of residential segregation is associated with social inequality. The wealthy in the US tend not to live within the same neighborhoods as the poor. There has been a upsurge in residential exclusion in the country. Between 1970 and 2000, there has been a sizable increase in segregation. The rich have better facilities, social amenities, and privileges within their neighborhoods. On the other hand, the poor in the country are faced with many challenges such as gun crimes, drug peddling, police discrimination and lack of quality social amenities, which lead to immorality more so amongst the youths (Ryscavage 8). As a result of social inequality, the rich in the country have privileges with regards to better health facilities. According to statics, in 2007, 8.1 million who were under the age of 18 years did not have health insurance. Most of these children were those living with poverty and Hispanic Children. This is a prof that inequality means that the lesser privilege does not get as good health as compared to the richer in society (Blossfeld, Blossfeld and Blossfeld).
The future of social inequality does not look very promising. This is since the gap continues to grow between the rich and the poor in the US. The rich have many privileges and hence continue to advance themselves in terms of education, employment opportunities, and empowerment. However, the government could play a critical role in bridging this gap to ensure that the inequality issue is addressed. This could be through providing quality education, health, and housing the financially unprivileged. There could also be the enactment of policies that aim to tackle the gaps between these two social classes (Lichter and Ziliak 25).
Conclusion
The issue of inequality in the United States is one of the major challenges faced by the country. The low-income owners are at a high risk of being homeless, failing to receive quality health care and also fail to access quality education and skills. There is a need for more laws and ordinances in place to assist in solving this growing problem in order to address the issue of economic inequality and unequal distribution of wealth in the US.edge, 2015.
