Social Issues

Question 1

Causes of inequality?

Answer 1

•Low income
•Employment (eg 0 hour contracts)
•Unemployment
•Lone parenthood
•Discrimination
•Disability
•Education

Question 2

Consequences of inequality on individuals

Answer 2

•Exclusion (social/digital)
•Addiction
•Bullying (normally in school)
•Health problems
•Mental health/Self esteem issues

Question 3

Consequences of inequality on communities

Answer 3

•Local businesses closing down
•House prices fall (less desirable area to live in)
•Loss of faculties and services (recreation/entertainment)

Question 4

Consequences of inequality on wider society

Answer 4

•Higher taxes (as more money is needed from the government for things like benefits, social services, drug prevention )
•Wide unemployment
•Increase in demands for food banks

Question 5

What is the gender pay gap?
(Nature of inequality)

Answer 5

7.7% as of April 2023
The gender pay gap is a measure of the average wage for full time MALE workers and the average wage for full time FEMALE workers.

The motherhood penalty - Women start earning less later on when they start to have kids.

Question 6

Natures of inequality

Answer 6

•The gender pay gap
•The school to prison streamline for minority ethnic boys
•higher rate of school exclusion
•certain racial minorities end up in lower paying jobs

Question 7

How do we measure the extent of social inequality?

Answer 7

•SIMD (scottish index of multiple deprivation)
A relative measure of deprivation across almost 7000 small areas in Scotland (data zones)

•Increasing use of foodbanks
Eg. Trussell trust provided almost 3 million food parcels over the course of 2022-23

•UK government statistics
ONS (office of national statistics)

Question 8

Govt responses to social inequality

Answer 8

P: Universal credit
E: Universal Credit is a government scheme that provides monthly payments to people on low income to help cover basic expenses like housing or food
E: Currently the UC for a single under 25y/o is £292.11

P: Mininum wage
E: A minimum hourly wage that employers must pay their workers
E: Current minimum wage is £10.42 (but real living wage is £12 so it isnt realistic)

P: Equalities act
E: A bill passed in 2010 that made it illegal to discriminate in employment based of protected characteristics.
E: This isnt always effective as people with ‘ethnic sounding names’ are more than half as likely to be asked for a job interview.

Question 9

Voluntary sector responses to inequality

Answer 9

P: Real living wage
E: The real living wage is a minimum wage that has been calculated to reflect a more realistic set of expenses to live.
E: The real living wage is £12

P: Food banks
E: Food banks aim to provide free food packages to people with low income.
E: As of June 2022 there was at least 2500 food banks in operation in the UK.

Question 10

Private sector responses to social inequality

Answer 10

P: Wages
E: One way companies have responded to social inequality is by choosing to pay the Real living wage
E: IKEA pay their employees the real living wage

P: Diverse work force
E: Some businesses are employing a diverse workforce to ensure that everyone is considered for employment and not discriminated against
E: Sky has reduced gender imbalances through a program called ‘women in leadership’ and aimed to have a 50/50 gender balance by 2020