Social Inequalities Flashcards
Wealth inequality in UK
UK is a wealthy country, however not everyone is equally wealthy in the UK.
THE RICHEST 25% of the UK population hold 40% of the total wealth. the richest 10% are 29 timers wealthier than the poorest 20%.
Measuring poverty
HBAI (Household below average income) is used by the department of social security it defines those in poverty as anyone living on or below 60% of average income.
Any Family below £16,200 would be considered as poor as in 2016 average family income stood at £27,953.
Poverty Rates
In 2015/16 15% of working age adults (5.5m) were in HBAI
In 2015/16 20% of children (2.3m) were in HBAI
Social Exclusion
Social exclusion is a phrase used to describe the lives of people who are not benefitting from progress in society.
Social exclusion is the modern term for a lifestyle of poverty and deprivation.
People who are socially excluded are more likely to
- lack employment
- have poor employment and social skills
- live on a low income
- have poor housing and health.
Causes of social exclusion
Social exclusion has been partly caused by the polices of the government, also changes in employment patterns, attitudes within society and the lifestyle choices of individuals, can also result in people becoming socially excluded.
There is a wealth of evidence to show that the highest social classes enjoy better health, lower death rates and longer life expectancy than the poorest social class.
Causes of social health inequality’s - lower wage
Low wages - low wages is increasingly cited for being as much of a cause of poverty/social exclusion as unemployment is. lower incomes mean fewer life choices, also the stress of unemployent/debt.
The national minimum living wage rose to £9.50 per hour for workers over the age of 23 in 2022 but this is still lower than the recommended living wage calculated by the living wage foundation of £9.90 per hour.
40% of people claiming universal credit are workers and 75% of children living in poverty have at least on parent in work.
Causes of social health inequality’s - Housing
Councils or housing associations are the main accommodation providers for those on low incomes.
However there has been a lot of government failure to build enough affordable homes.
Poor housing is closely linked to social exclusion, poor housing (multis/tenements), leads to poorer health (damp, overcrowding) also is a greater likelihood of suffering crime, sink schools with low educational attainment etc.
And homeless people are in all ways socially excluded.
Causes of social health inequality’s - unemployment
Unemployment rates in the UK are fairly low and have been decreasing again following the covid pandemic. 460,000 workers have not returned to work after the pandemic.
Number of workless households dependent on benefits is 0.8% with 167,000 never worked.
As technology has impacted on work, some people with skills of IT have seen incomes rise but those with the least education or skills have seen incomes fall. many of these people can only secure low paid, part time employment. e.g - zero hour contracts
Gender health inequalties
Women live longer than men by about 5 years but women have greater ill health. Men have higher early death rates for almost all categories of death.
MEN take part in greater risk taking activites- generally smoke more, consume greater amounts of alcohol and eat more poorly also take part in dangerous sports and subject to more violence.
WOMEN biologically live longer therefore have greater ill health as older, it is because of the impact of having anf bringing up children, physical and mental stress for caring for children and elderly relatives also have poorer paid employment than men.
What are health inequalities
There is a great deal of evidence to show that some groups of people are more likely to enjoy better health and have longer life expectancy than others.
Four ways in which health inequalities can be demonstrated is
- Geographical location
- Social class (between wealthiest & Poorest
- Gender between males and females
- Ethnicity between different ethnic groups
Male & Female life expectancy & Health inequalities evidence
In 2014 Male life expectancy was 77.4 years then increased to 76.9 in 2015 however falling again to 77.1 in 2016.
Female life expectancy fell from 81.4 years in 2014 to 81.0 years in 2015 before rising again to 81.2 years in 2016.
Health Life expectancy - fell slightly from 2014 to 2015 from 60.3 to 59.9 for men
62.6 to 62.3 for Women
Government ways of Reducing wealth inequalities -
Job Centreplus
Provides a wide range of services to help people find employment and claim the correct benefits.
jobseekers must sign a claimant commitemnt which details what steps they have agreed to take in order to find work. This info must be recorded into a diary. the claimant commitment is reviewed and updated regularly after discussions with the work coach.
Failure to comply with the responsibiltes agreed in the claimant commitment can result in the jobseeker being sanctioned by the Jobcentre plus. Sanction is when jobseekers lose some of their universal credit for periods ranging to 3 months or 3 weeks.
Critiscism of the Job Centreplus
A report by the house of commons work and pension committee called the claimant commitment and Jobseekeer directions innapropriate saying that conditions were imposed on claimants with little flexibilty for groups like lone parents.
also criticised the way benefit sanctions were used against anyone who breaks a rule or set. For example the Job Centreplus in Dundee has been repeatedly criticised for the high numbers of sanctions issued by some groups.
Government ways of Reducing wealth inequalities - National Minimum Wage
Introduced in 1999, the NMW aimed to encourage people to take up employment as rates of pay would be better for many low paying jobs.
National Living Wage: The National Living Wage (NLW) was introduced April 2016 then extended to 23-24 year olds in in April 2021. It is currently £9.50 per hour in 2022. Will rise in April 2023.
Success of the National Minimum Wage & National Living Wage
In 2010, the National Minimum Wage was named as the then, Labour Government’s most successful policy by a group of 159 political experts.
Since the NLW was introduced, employment has actually risen, countering fears that a higher minimum wage would actually lead to job losses.
Evidence also suggests young people have also experienced a boost to their pay despite the NLW only applying to workers aged 25 and over. This is known as a ‘domino effect’
