USA - Social Inequalities

Question 1

What is the introduction?

Answer 1

• In the USA, there are several social and economic inequalities that exist.
• These inequalities exist through education, healthcare, and income. However, these inequalities do not impact everyone.
• This essay will discuss to what extent social and economic inequalities exist in the USA.

Question 2

What is one way social and economic inequalities exist in the USA?

Answer 2

• One way in which social and economic inequalities exist in the USA is through Education.

Question 3

Why is a good education vital?

Answer 3

• A good education is vital in being able to succeed in life.
• Within the US education system there are inequalities between minority groups and the white population.

Question 4

What is an example of why education is vital?

Answer 4

• For example, in 2012 Black students only had a 69% graduation rate and Hispanics had a 73% graduation rate compared to Asians who had an 88% graduation rate and Caucasians who had an 86% graduation rate.

Question 5

What does the example of graduation rates show for education?

Answer 5

• This illustrates the inequalities within the education system in the USA between races
• due to the fact you are more likely to graduate if you are either Asian or Caucasian,
• the significant difference in figures effectively shows the extent of social and economic inequalities in the USA.

Question 6

Does the USA have a good education system?

Answer 6

• The USA has a good higher education system however for those in lower-income families, this is not the case as 55% of affluent individuals attain a 4-year degree compared to just 8% of those considered poor.

Question 7

Are there social and economic inequalities within the USA?

Answer 7

• This proves that social and economic inequalities exist within the USA
• as in many cases you need to be wealthy to gain a good education
• as minority groups tend to earn some of the lowest incomes, theirs is an obvious large inequality.

Question 8

What is the counter-argument to education? (first point)

Answer 8

• Despite this, over the years, education inequalities have slightly improved.
• Nowadays more black young men put more of an emphasis on being better at sports than academia.

Question 9

Are minority groups gaining more opportunities?

Answer 9

• This goes to show that minority groups are gaining more opportunities within education,
• however, there are still many Americans not receiving the education they deserve, this can come down to race or income etc.

Question 10

What is the overall conclusion for education inequalities?

Answer 10

• Overall, this shows the great amount of social and economic inequalities that exist in the USA.
• This is due to the unfair reality of the education system in which families with low incomes are at a significant disadvantage to be awarded a degree
• and if you are Black or Hispanic you are less likely to graduate from high school than an Asian or Caucasian

Question 11

What is another way in which inequalities exist in the USA?

Answer 11

• Another way in which inequalities exist in the USA is through healthcare.

Question 12

Is there an equivalent to the NHS in the USA?

Answer 12

• Unlike the UK, there is no national health care service in the USA and most Americans are expected to provide for their own health care through private medical insurance, however, some people cannot afford this.

Question 13

What is an example of healthcare inequalities?

Answer 13

• For example, roughly 20% of Hispanic people are uninsured compared to Asian people where only 6% are uninsured.

Question 14

What are ethnic minorities more likely to be?

Answer 14

• Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be unemployed or have lower incomes, they are therefore less likely to have private medical insurance and more likely to
  depend on things like Medicare and Obamacare.

Question 15

What clearly demonstrates health inequalities in the USA?

Answer 15

• This clearly demonstrates inequalities in the USA as for certain minority groups because of their race they are unlikely to receive the proper medical care needed due to the fact they do not have insurance.

Question 16

How can we also see healthcare inequalities through?

Answer 16

• Furthermore, we can also see healthcare inequalities through life expectancies.

Question 17

What is an example for life expectancy?

Answer 17

• For example, Black males have a predicted life expectancy of 69 years compared to White males with a life expectancy of 75 years.

Question 18

What does this life expectancy example emphasise?

Answer 18

• This emphasises how substantial social and economic inequalities are as there is a significant difference in life expectancies between races.

Question 19

How many Americans had private insurance, and what does this demonstrate?

Answer 19

• Nevertheless, in 2016, 91% of Americans had private health insurance, demonstrating that although an important number of Americans do not receive healthcare the significant majority have the provided insurance to be able to receive the quality standard of healthcare, a statistic which has improved over the years

Question 20

What is the overall conclusion for health inequalities?

Answer 20

• Overall, this proves the great amount of inequalities that exist in the USA because ethnic minorities are more likely to be unemployed or have lower incomes, they are less likely to be insured and therefore they will not receive the medical care needed and due to this fact, this also comes into factor as Black males have a shorter life expectancy than white males.

Question 21

What is another way in which inequalities in the USA exist?

Answer 21

• Another way in which inequalities in the USA exist is through income.

Question 22

What type of country is the USA?

Answer 22

• The USA is a capitalist country and compared to other countries it is very unequal therefore income inequalities are clearly seen in the US.

Question 23

What is one way that income inequalities are seen in the USA?

Answer 23

• One-way income inequalities are seen in the USA is through unemployment levels.

Question 24

What is an example of unemployment for ethnic minorities?

Answer 24

• For example, around 4.6% of Asians and Whites are unemployed compared to 10.5% of Blacks being unemployed.

Question 25

What does this unemployment evidence emphasise?

Answer 25

• This emphasises how vast these social and economic inequalities are through this large statistic showing over double the number of Blacks being unemployed than Whites/Asians.

Question 26

What does poverty affect?

Answer 26

• However, poverty does not affect adults, but children too.

Question 27

What is the Poverty example?

Answer 27

• The National Centre of Poverty reported that 13 million American children were living in families with incomes below the official federal levels.

Question 28

What does this large statistic highlight? (poverty)

Answer 28

• This awful large statistic highlights how immense these inequalities are in America; no child should be living in poverty.
• This shows income inequalities as the parents/guardians of these children are living in poverty due to income inequalities.

Question 29

Have income inequalities improved?

Answer 29

• Despite all this income inequalities have improved in America over the years which we have seen within the black poverty rates decreasing from 27% to 22%.

Question 30

From the statistic for income inequalities, what has it proved?

Answer 30

• This statistic proves that although these inequalities are very much still there, they are improving due to policies being put in place to help ethnic minorities.

Question 31

What is the overall conclusion for unemployment and poverty?

Answer 31

• Overall, this proves the great amount of social and economic inequalities that exist in the USA, seen through the shocking statistic that double the amount of Black people are unemployed and the huge number of families living in poverty in the USA.

Question 32

What is the conclusion?

Answer 32

• Despite all of this, income inequalities have improved in America over the years which we have seen.
• Ultimately, there are several reasons for social and economic inequalities existing in the USA, however we have seen few improvements throughout the years.
• These inequalities are seen in the USA through education, healthcare and income. Within each of these factors we have seen improvements through policies such as Race to the Top, Obamacare and Affirmative Action.