Economic And Social Inequalities

Question 1

What are the indicators of Silicon Valley’s success?

Answer 1

Population in 1990 was 1.5 million, growing to 1.9 million by 2015.
Roughly the same size as the UK country of Kent, it has an answer annual GDP of $180 billion (similar to the Czech Republic).
An average detached house in Santa Clara costs over 1 million dollars.
Average household income in 2014 was $89,000

Question 2

In 2014, how many migrants gained residency or permission to work long-term in California?

Answer 2

198,000

More than any other state and about 20% for all of the USA.

Question 3

What is the rustbelt?

Answer 3

The rustbelt is an area of industrial decline in the northeast USA including Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago.

Question 4

What was the change in the population of Detroit in 1970 and 2015?

Answer 4

1970: 1.5 million
2015: 680,000

Question 5

What is the average household income in Detroit?

Answer 5

$25,000

Half the national average

Question 6

How much of Detroit’s residents could not afford basic needs like and fuel?

Answer 6

2/3

Question 7

What’s the poverty rate in Detroit?

Answer 7

38%

Question 8

What’s the life expectancy in parts of Detroit?

Answer 8

69 years

Question 9

How many students graduate from high school in Detroit?

Answer 9

30%

Question 10

In 2014, how did Detroit rank in terms of the murder rate?

Answer 10

Second highest murder rate of any US city.

Question 11

What is the average price of a house in Detroit?

Answer 11

$40,000

Question 12

How many abandoned homes are there in Detroit?

Answer 12

30,000

Question 13

By which ethnic group is Detroit dominated by and why?

Answer 13

Black African Americans.
They are the lowest income group left behind when other groups (more skilled and educated) have migrated from Detroit as it has declined.

Question 14

What does ‘ethnicity’ refer to?

Answer 14

Groups of people who share a common culture, ancestry, language and traditions - and often religion.
Race (racial group) is based on physical/genetic characteristics.

Question 15

What is the spiral of decline?

Answer 15

A spiral of decline is a hard-to-stop loss of jobs, people and local tax revues that leads to further losses and greater decline.

Question 16

What problems do Detroit and Santa Clara County share?

Answer 16

Detroit has severe shortages of public sector workers (teachers, nurses) because most have simply moved away to better places.
Santa Clara has shortages of skilled workers, because living costs are so high i.e. house prices and commuting costs.
Increasingly Santa Clara is short of space to build new offices, malls and homes because demand is so high.
Demand is so low in Detroit that huge areas of the city are simply abandoned.

Question 17

What are the issues in rural areas of the UK?

Answer 17

Falling employment in farming and other primary sector employment, usually because of mechanisation.
Migration of young people out of rural areas.
Ageing rural populations.
Decline in rural services especially post offices, banks, petrol stations and some public services.
A shift in economic activity towards services, especially leisure and tourism.

Question 18

What are ageing populations?

Answer 18

Ageing populations are ones with an increasing percentage of over-65s, who are retired and dependent on pensions; they place high demands on public services especially healthcare.

Question 19

By how much did the population in West Somerset fall by and to what between 2001 and 2011?

Answer 19

Fell by 500 to 34,400

Question 20

What is the change in population in Mid Devon between 2001 and 2011?

Answer 20

2001: 69,900
2011: 77,800

Question 21

What are the four problems faced by West Somerset?

Answer 21

Has the oldest average age of any local council area in England at 52 and suffered from young people leaving.
Has no motorways, higher education provision or rail connections, making economic development difficult.
Limited amount of tourism development.
In the 2015 IMD it ranked 56th most deprived local authority, high for a rural area.

Question 22

What are the four advantages that Mid Devon has?

Answer 22

Benefitted from the growth of holiday homes and in-migration of retired people.
Very accessible via the M5 motorway and the Great Western Railway.
Has several tourism hotspots, including the Grand Western Canal and Exmoor National Park.
Ranked 156th most deprived local authority area in the 2015 IMD.