Causes of Income and Wealth Inequality

Question 1

What is the first cause of income and wealth inequality?

Answer 1

• One cause of income and wealth inequality is social class

Question 2

What can social classes determine?

Answer 2

• Depending on what class you are in, you can determine where you are in society, whether you are rich or poor, your level of education, healthcare and lifestyle.

Question 3

What is the benefits of being in a wealthier class?

Answer 3

• If you are in a wealthier class such as middle/upper class, this means you can have more opportunities.
• You have better healthcare as you can pay for private health and better education which can lead to a well-earned job.

Question 4

What is the effects of being in a poorer social class?

Answer 4

• Meanwhile, if you are in the working-class, you are more likely to have worse health, worse education as your family may live in poorer catchment areas and you are more likely to stay in the poverty cycle.

Question 5

What is the first example of social class?

Answer 5

• For example, a 2017 report from the Sutton Trust found that 15-year-olds from poorer families in Scotland were roughly 2-3 years behind in reading, maths and science when compared to people from better backgrounds.

Question 6

What is the second example of social class?

Answer 6

• Another example is that UCAS figures released in August 2021 revealed that just 14.4% of 18-year-olds were accepted into UK universities from the poorest areas in Scotland, compared with 17.3% previously.

Question 7

What is the analysis point of social class?

Answer 7

• This shows if you grow up in a better area, with many people in the middle/upper class, you are more likely to have a better chance at life and more likely to succeed than people from the poorest areas/social classes.

Question 8

What is the counterargument for social class?

Answer 8

• However, not everyone from poorer social classes stays in the poverty cycle, showing that even though you might have grown up in a poor family in a poor social class, you can still get the same or more opportunities as a person in a wealthier class can.

Question 9

What is the counter-example of social class?

Answer 9

• For example, Sir Jim Radcliffe, who is the former richest man in the UK was brought up in a council house in Manchester and is the son of a joiner and an office manager.
• He founded the chemical company INEOS in 1998 which makes profits of around £2 billion.

Question 10

What is the analysis of the counter-example?

Answer 10

• This shows that although you might have a rough start in life, anyone from any social class can make it big if they try hard enough.

Question 11

How does social class link to education?

Answer 11

• This links to education because evidence suggests that people from richer backgrounds and better social classes tend to do much better in school, as they have access to money to help their child, meanwhile poorer people have limited money.

Question 12

What is the example to support this link?

Answer 12

• For example, research from the National Education Union in England and Wales found that children accessing free school meals (FSMs) were 28% less likely to leave school with 5 GCSE passes at A*-C than those not claiming FSMs in 2021.

Question 13

What is another cause of income and wealth inequality?

Answer 13

• Education

Question 14

How is education important in today’s society?

Answer 14

• Having a good education is important today, this means that you can get a good job, you can be well-educated on certain topics and have the freedom to do what you want to do in life.

Question 15

What happens if you don’t stick in, in school?

Answer 15

• Statistics tend to show that you won’t have the freedom to do what you want in life as you won’t have the money to back it.
• This means you won’t be able to get a high-earning job to pay for what you want and need, or even get into university.
• This could result in going into poverty, and even in some cases crime.

Question 16

What is evidence to backup education?

Answer 16

• For example, a 2019 JRF report found that just over 12% of those with degree-level qualifications or above had experienced poverty, compared to the 39% of those with no qualifications.

Question 17

What is the analysis point for education?

Answer 17

• This evidence further emphasizes the point that many people who do not do good in school are usually in poverty-ridden areas and by not doing good at school, they are stuck in the poverty cycle.

Question 18

What is the counter-argument for education?

Answer 18

• However, not everyone who does well at school goes into immediate poverty.

Question 19

What is the example to support this counter-argument for education?

Answer 19

• For example, X Factor founder Simon Cowell has only got 3 O-Levels to his name (GCSE’s), and he is one of the top people in the music industry as well.
• Lord Alan Sugar, who is one of Britian’s best-known entrepreneurs, left school with only one GCSE.

Question 20

What is the analysis point for the counter-argument of education?

Answer 20

• Despite these rare examples, statistics do show that most people who do not do well at school usually tend to live poorer lives.

Question 21

What does education link to?

Answer 21

• This links to geographical location as evidence suggests that depending on where you are from, the more likely you are to live in poverty, and you might not get the greatest education.

Question 22

What is the evidence to support this link between geographical location and education?

Answer 22

• For example, a 2015 report found that almost 5% more pupils in the south gained 5 good GCSEs, including English and Maths at A-C, compared to those in the north of the country.

Question 23

What is the final cause of income and wealth inequality?

Answer 23

• Geographical location.

Question 24

What differences happen depending on where you are?

Answer 24

• Depending on where you are, it can affect how you turn out, what healthcare you get, what level of education you get, and how well you do in life.

Question 25

What happens if a person is in a wealthier area?

Answer 25

• People from more affluent areas tend to succeed more in life, as they live in a better school catchment area, and they would usually have better health and not be related to crime as in affluent areas there are less crime levels.

Question 26

What happens if a person is in a poorer area?

Answer 26

• However, people from deprived areas tend to have lower money, which means they would live in a worse catchment area for school as house prices are more expensive, which could lead to less qualifications, the non-affluent area could have high levels of crime, which would then lead to the cycle of poverty continuing.

Question 27

What is the first example to support geographical location?

Answer 27

• For example, in 2020 the Scottish Government figures showed that 34% of children in Glasgow were living in poverty.
• Almost half (47.3%) of Glasgow’s residents reside in one of the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland, while less than 5% of residents in Moray Council live in high areas of high deprivation.

Question 28

What is the final example to support geographical location?

Answer 28

• The life expectancy of Glasgow is 74 years, meanwhile a more affluent area like Aberdeen is 80 years of age.

Question 29

What is the final analysis point for geographical location?

Answer 29

• This evidence further shows that if you grow up in a poorer area, you will have less opportunities and you will not get a good education and you might not live very long, compared to more affluent people.

Question 30

What is the conclusion for income and wealth inequality?

Answer 30

• In conclusion, the main cause of poverty is social class. This is because if you are in a lower social class than others, you won’t be able to have the money to have the same opportunities in school as others, which could lead to going back into the cycle of poverty.