5.3 How does economic change influence patterns of social inequality in places? Flashcards
5.3 How does economic change influence patterns of social inequality in places?
Key idea ➡ The distribution of resources, wealth and opportunities are not evenly spread within and between places.
What is social inequality and how can it be measured?
Differences, based on factors such as age, ethnicity, gender, religion, education and wealth exist in all societies. Such differences often raise moral issues concerning inequality. Spatial inequality relates to social difference varying from place to place. The terms ‘quality of life’ and ‘standard of living’ are frequently used when discussing differences between places.
Pages 155-156.
Spatial inequality
Social differences that vary from place to place. For example quality of life and the standard of living.
Quality of life
The extent to which people’s needs and desires (social, psychological or physical) are met. This can be seen in areas such as the treatment of people.
Are all people treated with equal dignity and do they have equal rights? Does everyone have reasonable access to services such health care, education and leisure? Are all opinions heard and respected?
Standard of living
The ability to access services and goods. This includes basics such as food and water, clothes, housing and personal mobility.
The cycle of deprivation diagram
Page 156.
The cycle of deprivation
Where families from one generation to the next live below the poverty line and the poverty is passed on. The term is often used to claim that the welfare state traps people into a life of poverty from which they become dependent upon state benefits.
Page 156.
Measuring social inequality
-Income
-Housing
-Education
-Health care
-Employment
Measuring social inequality definition
In order to understand social inequalities we first need to access appropriate data. In addition to census data a whole range of social information has become available in the past 50 to 60 years, including data on employment, education and health care.
Income (Measuring social inequality)
At the global scale, the role of income in measuring social inequality is seen the World Bank’s (WB) definition of absolute poverty: US$1.25/day PPP (Purchasing Power Parity).
Below this level of income, a person cannot afford to purchase the minimum amount of food and non-food essentials such as clothes and shelter. The use of purchasing power is important as the cost of obtaining a particular good or service can vary greatly from one country to another.
Relative poverty is another useful measure.
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Measurement tool of calculating exchange rates so that each currency buys an equal amount of goods as every other currency.
Relative poverty
A useful measure as it relates the level of poverty to the distribution of income across the whole population. For the UK and throughout the EU, the relative poverty level is 60% of the median household income. About 13 million inhabitants of the UK, including some 3.5 million children, currently fall below this threshold.
Gini Coefficient
A technique that can be used to measure levels of income inequality within countries. It is defined as a ratio with values between 0 and 1.0. The lower the value the more equal is income distribution.
A Gini coefficient of 1.0 would mean that all the income in a country was in the hands of one person while a value of 0 indicates that everyone in a country has equal income.
Housing (Measuring social inequality)
Being able to afford accommodation of an adequate standard is closely related to income. At all scales social inequality is evident in the type and quality of housing people occupy.
Housing tenure is an important indicator of social inequality.
Housing tenure
Housing tenure is an important indicator of social inequality. Owner-occupiers own their house outright. In many ACs this is achieved through borrowing money in the form of a mortgage which is normally paid back over 25 to 30 years.
Some people rent from private landlords while others rent from a local authority (council). Charities and housing associations also provide subsidised accommodation for rent. In many LIDCs, housing tenure is complex, especially in the slum areas. In many such areas a well organised system of landlords and tenants exists.
The term, ‘squatter settlement’ is often misleading and should only be used where people have no legal right to the land they occupy.
Education (Measuring social inequality)
Formal education is provided by schools, colleges, apprenticeships and universities. Informal education can be doing something in the home or workplace. The acquisition of skills can be underestimated if only formal qualifications are measured. This is particularly true when studying in EDCs and LIDCs.
Literacy rates/levels indicates the ability of an individual to read and write at a basic level. Globally there are clear contrasts among countries in levels of literacy and especially in terms of gender equality.
Health care (Measuring social inequality)
Access to health care and levels of ill-health are closely associated with social inequality. The association between poverty and ill-health is very strong and reflects a number of influences.
In the UK, increasing attention is paid to unequal access to health care, the so-called ‘postcode lottery’.
Pages 158-159.
Employment (Measuring social inequality)
Whether a household includes someone who is in receipt of regular income has a profound impact on the standard of living and quality of life. Unemployment is perhaps the obvious measure but it is not always straightforward to assess.
Not all countries take counts of employment and defining what counts as employment and what does not can be difficult.
How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary
-Wealth
-Housing
-Health
-Education
-Access to services
Human Development Index (HDI) is based on
The Human Development Index (HDI) is based on economic and social indicators:
-Income adjusted to take account of purchasing power in the country.
-Life expectancy at birth.
-Education using the adult literacy rate and the average number of years spent in school.
Human Development Index (HDI)
The HDI was introduced in 1990 by the UN and highlights the great inequalities that exist between countries in both economic and social terms. The Human Development Index (HDI) is based on economic and social indicators.
The index ranges from 1 (most developed) to 0 (least developed). A high index equates to 0.8 and above; medium index from 0.5 to 0.79; and a low index is less than 0.5.
How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary definition
Inequalities exist at all scales from the global to the local. There are inequalities between urban places and rural places and there are also contrasts at the intra-urban scale.
Several factors influence the relative level of social inequality between places. A single factor is unlikely to explain inequalities at any scale. It is the interaction of several factors which tends to lead to spatial patterns of inequality.
Wealth (How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary)
The ability to purchase goods and services is fundamental to social well-being. Low incomes are linked to factors such as ill-health, lower educational attainment and poor access to services. The cost of living is also an important consideration when discussing the role of wealth.
Page 159.
Housing (How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary)
Quality of accommodation is a significant influence on social inequality. The smaller the income of a household, the less choice of housing they have. Poor quality housing and overcrowded conditions often create ill-health.
Pages 159-160.
Health (How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary)
In all societies there is a clear link between ill-health and deprivation. Within a local area for example, some groups such as the elderly have limited mobility which restricts their access to GPs and primary health care. In rural areas where health facilities are widely dispersed, accessing medical care may be more difficult.
Page 160.
Education (How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary)
Differing access to educational opportunities is recognised as a significant element in creating maintaining inequalities. Achieving universal primary education was one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and most governments invest in education raise standards of living and quality of life. Illiteracy excludes people from education and skills training which reduces employment opportunities. In LIDCs, accessing even basic education can be an issue.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (List)
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
- Achieve universal primary education.
- Promote gender equality and empower women.
- Reduce child mortality.
- Improve maternal health.
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
- Ensure environmental sustainability.
- Develop a global partnership for development.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Eight goals adopted by the UN to address inequity in the international system with the objective to improve people’s lives globally by 2015.
The role of globalisation in economic change
In economic terms, globalisation has led to increasing flows of ideas, capital, goods and services and people. The global economy has become knitted together in ways that have never happened before. Globalisation is driven by economic changes across all scales from the global to the local.
Page 161.
Access to services (How and why spatial patterns of social inequality vary)
Access to services is influenced by three factors:
-Number of services.
-How easy it is to get to the service, e.g. quantity and quality of transport links and geographical distance.
-Social and economic factors, e.g. factors such as age, gender, income.
Page 160.
Economic restructuring
Changes in the way the economy, firms, and employment relations are organised.
New International Division of Labour (NIDL)
Transfer of some types of jobs, especially those requiring low-paid less skilled workers, from more developed to less developed countries.
Global shift
The movement of manufacturing from ACs to cheaper production locations in LIDCs.
Primary sector
The portion of the economy concerned with the direct extraction of materials from Earth’s surface, generally through agriculture, although sometimes by mining, fishing, and forestry.
Secondary sector
The portion of the economy concerned with manufacturing useful products through processing, transforming, and assembling raw materials.
Tertiary sector
The portion of the economy concerned with transportation, communications, and utilities, sometimes extended to the provision of all goods and services to people in exchange for payment.
Quaternary sector
The portion of the economy said to be the intellectual aspect of the economy. It includes education, training, the development of technology, and research and development.
Post-industrial
An economy with less emphasis on heavy industry (e.g. Primary and Secondary sectors/industries) and manufacturing and more emphasis on services and technology (e.g. Tertiary and Quaternary sectors/industries).
Economic changes and the process of globalisation
Diagram - Page 162.
Employment structures
How the workforce is divided up between the three main employment sectors - primary, secondary, and tertiary.
https://sites.google.com/site/skillsa229/triangular-graphs
Page 163.
The effect of positive economic change on a place
Diagram on Page 164.
Deindustrialisation
A fall in the proportion of national output accounted for by the manufacturing sector of the economy.
Example: Inevitably economic restructuring led to mine and factory closures and job losses in ACs.
Page 164.
Positive and negative impacts of economic change on people and places
Table on Page 164.
Waves of innovation
Page 166.
Multiplier effect
An effect in economics in which an increase in spending produces an increase in national income and consumption greater than the initial amount spent. Training and employment growth would lead to a positive multiplier effect.
Comparative advantage
The ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another producer as a result of globalisation.
Birmingham Research Park
Page 165.
How booms and recessions impact on people and places
The economic health of a place is rarely static. Over time places grow and decline and this impacts on social opportunities and inequalities. Within countries, places often experience in different ways the effects of boom and recession. This is because different types of economic activities are not distributed evenly in space.
Capitalist economic systems
Operates in a series of interconnected cycles. Notably the Russian economist Kondratiev concluded that roughly 50-year cycles of growth and decline have characterised the capitalist world since 1750.
Core regions
Regions with a strong multiplier effect and the benefit if above average economic growth - high levels of productivity are also implied.
Silicon Valley
Page 166.
The roles governments can play in patterns of social inequality
Governments operate at different geographical scales. There are transnational governments such as the EU, national governments such as the UK and local bodies such as county, city and parish councils. In many countries, governments play an important role in decision-making and the allocation of resources.
Motivation for governments - The roles governments can play in patterns of social inequality
Most governments are motivated by ideals of social justice and political cohesion and seek to reduce the extremes of poverty and inequality.
UK government - measures for tackling social and economic inequalities
Pages 167-168.
Jembatan Besi, Jakarta, Indonesia (Case study)
Pages 168-170.
Northwood, Irvine, southern California (Case study)
Pages 170-171.
Compare and contrast between two places (in social inequality)
-Jembatan Besi, Jakarta, Indonesia (Pages 168-170)
-Northwood, Irvine, southern California (Pages 170-171)
