social inequalities essay titles

105 Social Inequality Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best social inequality topic ideas & essay examples, 💡 interesting topics to write about social inequality, 🎓 good research topics about social inequality, ⭐ simple & easy social inequality essay titles, ❓ research questions about social inequality.

• Essay on Social Class Inequality & Discrimination In this paper, I analyze three articles on social class and inequality to find out whether the authors’ views agree with mine on the negative attitudes towards the poor by the middle class and the […]
• Social, Cultural and Gender Inequality From a Global Perspective It is the duty of the tutor to craft a lecture-room environment that serves to enhance meaningful discussions concerning gender. This is due to the fact that students learn best in various ways. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Zora Neale Hurston “Sweat”: The Issue of Social Inequality of Women and Men On the one hand, it represented a true social situation, and on the other hand, it helped to illustrate the life of Afro-American people at the beginning of the twentieth century.
• Hip-Hop and Rap Impact on Social Inequality For instance, Beyonce is one of the most famous artists in the world who have stated her opinion regarding misogyny related to artists and other black women.
• Nigeria vs. Sweden: Education System & Social Inequality The evaluation of the education systems in Sweden and Nigeria will prove the need for increased literacy levels and the solution of financial problems to find out the balance between developed and developing countries.
• Social Inequality, Socialization, and Values Living in terms of limited access to resources also influences career choice and the level of income. As a result, the problem remains unresolved, and communities suffer from the unfair distribution of benefits.
• Social Inequality and Discrimination Gender discrimination is when a person or a group of people is treated unfairly or unfairly because of their gender. Moreover, there is a classification of the thinking model in which a person exalts his […]
• Researching of Social Inequality In this paper, I look at the social injustices suffered by minority communities in these eras, how they sought to solve them, and the coverage of these critical periods of American history in the textbooks. […]
• Solution for Social Inequality by Transforming Human Attitudes On the macro-scale, the poverty redress policies emphasize the importance of economic growth while the issue of social inequality remains in the background.
• Issue of Unemployment: Social Inequality The deep socio-economic divides in American society have impacted the unemployment rates even before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the virus has exacerbated the issue.
• Social Inequality in Literary Works For example, in Recitatif, the writer describes the adversities of the lives of two girls living in a shelter, Twyla and Roberta.
• Social Inequality, Capitalism, and Globalization It replaces slavery of antiquity and negatively affects almost all aspects of society, from the inequality of men and women to the sphere of science and education.
• Social Inequality Principle According to the COVID-19 From the five principles that figured out the emergence of social inequality, I would like to discuss the principle about the interplay of Power, Privilege, and Prestige according to the current terrifying occasion of a […]
• COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Inequality Currently, the world community is rethinking the problems of a multinational state in the context of measures that can stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus on the planet.
• Social Inequality in Canada and Its Main Factor The promotion of capitalism, the living conditions of most of the citizens, the percentage the rich control in terms of national wealth, and the promotion of stratification are the key factors that explain why social […]
• Comparing Perspectives on Social Inequality The authors formulate two categories, according to which the society’s employees receive compensation for their contribution the functional importance and the scarcity of personnel.
• Social Inequality Problem Overview Both in the case of Arabic women and black slavery, people are depicted as their basic rights by some groups of individuals, which is inappropriate.
• The Problem of Social Inequality The project is one of the ways to convey the urgency of the problem to the broad public. This will keep the site up to date and highlight the relevance of problems.
• Social Inequality: Family, Economics and Wages The first is the world of work, living in a declining share of income for the majority of the people, and which has an extreme shortage of money for the purchase of even essential goods.
• Social Inequality at School: Vision Winterkorn was in charge of the company when it faced the major crisis, the echoes of which are still causing issues.”The Volkswagen Diesel Fraud” as the world knows it, was a major scandal that Winterkorn […]
• Social Inequality at School: The G-Spot The gland is claimed to have the connection to the G-spot that is perceived rather as a system of glands, tissue, and nerves.
• The Inter-Sectionality Theory and Social Inequality The inter-sectionalist theory indicates that cultural identifiers such as ethnicity, gender, as well as race, are the prime factors contributing to actions that result in mistreating a group of individuals, and uplifting others. The fact […]
• Chinese Women and the Social Inequality A number of activists were intensively working on the liberation of women and the reinforcement of women’s consideration in the political arena.
• Culture of Social Inequality: Get in Where You Fit Although stereotypes serve the basic function of making people feel superior to others or releasing frustration, there is a belief that they are also a part of a broader context in which they justify social […]
• Social Inequality in the United States Social inequality refers to the difference in the quality of life experienced by different people in the same community, usually between the rich and poor.
• Social Inequality Issue Analysis Thesis Social inequality is a system and systematic worked as the framework of society and its functionality. What is acknowledged to be a hierarchical social structure are essentially confined to the primary units of economic […]
• The Question of Social Class Inequality The difference between the indicators used determines the various views on the problem of social class inequality. The rules which the people in power establish are expected to be followed by the rest of the […]
• Social and Economic Inequality in the United States I believe that there is a strong negative reaction to women on welfare for two reasons: First, the general public perceives welfare for women, especially single mothers, as a government handout to assist individuals who […]
• Social Factors Perpetuating Inequality It seems reasonable to analyze the problem of inequality and factors perpetuating it from the point of the symbolic interactionist perspective.
• Social Inequality: Hip-Hop Culture and Movement When it comes to defining the term ‘social movement’, it is important to understand that the process of a particular group of people striving to have their voice heard in the public sphere, must be […]
• Social Inequality, Constitution, and Revolution Rousseau argued that in the past people had no hunger for individual ownership of the property until one person fenced a piece of land and claimed that the land belonged to him; after this, people […]
• Social Inequality in Australia This paper seeks to interrogate the presence of social inequality and discrimination in Australia, focusing especially on the social disadvantages that are faced by the indigenous people as a result of it.
• Hip-Hop Subculture as Answer to Social Inequality One of the most notable aspects of a contemporary living in America is the fact that, as of today, the sub-culture of Hip-Hop had ceased being considered in terms of a largely marginalized socio-cultural phenomenon.
• Social Inequality and Uneven Educational Distribution Social inequality has a greatly influenced the distribution of resources in the American society. The majority class has created a culture of favoritism that has resulted in suffering amongst people of the minority class.
• Public Policy and Social Inequality From the studies that have been conducted, it has been identified that the inequality changes that have been experienced in the different states of the world are not monotonic; other factors play a critical role […]
• Media Patterns and Social Inequality An example of bias in the media can be illustrated by observing the ratio of men to women in society, and placing that ratio to the available job opportunities in the media.
• Social Capital and Health Inequality This paper will take in hand the issues of understanding and demonstrate how social relationships, specifically social capital, can become the defining factor for influencing individual health, as well as the health outcomes of an […]
• The Problem of Social and Economic Inequality in Modern Society The author claims that it is the role of the government to ensure the efficiency of the current employment legislation. In summary, the analyzed articles are devoted to the problem of social and economic inequality.
• Social and Economic Inequality While structural changes have reduced economic and social inequalities in some areas, the concept has led to a worsening of conditions in some countries.
• Social Welfare Policy That Facilitates Reduction of Poverty and Inequality in the US In spite of the scale of the increase in the inequality, the political class in the US rarely discusses this subject in the public.
• The Income Gap Between Low-Income Families and Others: Signs of Individual Freedom or Proof of Social Inequality
• Argentina: The Many Problems of Social Inequality
• Social Inequality and Political Change
• Women Criminals and Social Inequality
• Child Protection and Social Inequality
• Economic and Social Inequality Today
• Courage, Social Inequality, and Prejudice
• Educational Attainment and Social Inequality in Russia: Dynamics and Correlations With Education Policies
• Closed Circuit Television Promotes Social Inequality and Control
• Social Inequality in Terms of Class Andor Ethnicity
• Induced Innovation and Social Inequality: Evidence From Infant Medical Care
• Social Inequality and the Criminal Offenses Associated With It
• Two Major Theories of the Persistence of Social Inequality
• Corporate Monopoly and Social Inequality
• Theories of Social Inequality: Can Inequality Be Eliminated
• Critical Thinkings About Social Inequality in School and Employment
• Family Patterns and Social Inequality Among Children in the United States
• Are Victims Still Being Blamed for Social Inequality
• The Macro-Sociological Theories of Karl Marx: Social Inequality, the Role of Culture, Religion, Sexuality, the Environment, Work and Alienation, and Social Deviance
• Climate Change and Social Inequality
• Global Social Inequality Reveals the Cracks in Our System
• Cyberspace and Social Inequality
• Political Analysis: Consensus Democracy and Reduce Social Inequality
• Growth Dynamics and Social Inequality in European Regions
• Caste System and Social Inequality
• Functionalist Explanations of Social Inequality
• Economic and Social Inequality in the United States and the Use of Urban Sociology in the Effectively Tackling of These Challenges
• Biased Aspirations and Social Inequality at School: Evidence From French Teenagers
• Globalization: Economic and Social Inequality Issues
• Equality and Social Inequality of Class and Class Equality
• Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States
• Classical and Modern Explanations of Social Inequality
• Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists
• Rethinking the Role of Religion in the Emergence of Social Inequality
• Dominance, Prejudiced Stereotypes, and Social Inequality
• Childcare, Early Education and Social Inequality: An International Perspective
• Education and Social Inequality
• Gifts, Bequests, and Social Inequality in West Germany
• Neuromodulation and Enhance Social Inequality: Some Possible Indirect Interventions of the State
• Explicit and Implicit Issues in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Social Inequality
• What Is Social Inequality?
• What Are Examples of Social Inequality?
• Why Is Social Inequality a Problem?
• What Causes Social Inequality?
• How Do You Identify Social Inequality?
• What Is Social Inequality Essay?
• How Can We Stop Social Inequality?
• What Is the Conclusion of Social Inequality?
• How Did Social Inequality Start?
• Is It Important to Know Social Inequality?
• How Can Students Reduce Social Inequality?
• Why Should We Stop Social Inequality?
• How Does Social Inequality Affect Students?
• Is Social Inequality Good or Bad?
• What Are Types of Social Inequality?
• What Causes Social Inequality in Education?
• Which Country Has the Most Social Inequality?
• How Does Social Inequality Affect Human Rights?
• Why Is Social Inequality a Moral Problem?
• Is Social Inequality Inevitable?
• How Is Social Inequality Measured?
• How Do Social Differences Lead to Social Inequality?
• How Does Social Inequality Affect Quality of Life?
• How Is Social Inequality Connected to Power?
• What Will Happen if Social Inequality Continues?
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106 Social Inequality Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Social inequality is a pervasive issue that affects individuals and communities across the globe. From economic disparities to racial discrimination, there are countless aspects of society that contribute to unequal opportunities and outcomes for different groups of people. If you are studying or researching social inequality, you may be looking for essay topics that will help you explore this complex and important issue further. To help you get started, here are 106 social inequality essay topic ideas and examples that you can use as inspiration for your next assignment:

• The impact of income inequality on health outcomes
• Gender pay gap: causes and consequences
• Educational inequality and its effects on social mobility
• The role of race in shaping access to opportunities
• Discrimination in the workplace: a case study
• Wealth inequality and its implications for society
• The digital divide: how access to technology perpetuates inequality
• Disability discrimination and social exclusion
• Intersectionality: how multiple forms of inequality intersect
• The role of social class in shaping life chances
• Housing inequality and homelessness
• Environmental justice and marginalized communities
• The criminal justice system and racial disparities
• Healthcare access and disparities in medical treatment
• LGBTQ+ rights and discrimination
• Ageism and discrimination against older adults
• The impact of globalization on income inequality
• Indigenous rights and land sovereignty
• Access to clean water and sanitation in low-income communities
• The role of social policies in reducing inequality
• Religious discrimination and freedom of worship
• Mental health stigma and access to care
• The impact of social media on perceptions of beauty and self-worth
• Immigration policy and its effects on immigrant communities
• The role of language in perpetuating inequality
• The impact of colonialism on modern-day inequality
• Food insecurity and poverty
• The effects of gentrification on low-income communities
• The role of social networks in shaping opportunities
• Disability rights and accessibility in public spaces
• The impact of incarceration on families and communities
• The intersection of race and gender in shaping experiences of inequality
• The role of education in breaking the cycle of poverty
• Affirmative action and its effects on equality
• The impact of political corruption on social inequality
• The role of media in perpetuating stereotypes and prejudice
• The effects of climate change on marginalized communities
• Worker rights and labor exploitation
• The impact of globalization on job opportunities
• The role of social movements in advocating for equality
• The effects of war and conflict on social inequality
• The impact of family structure on economic outcomes
• The role of technology in widening or narrowing the digital divide
• The effects of discrimination on mental health
• The impact of mass incarceration on communities of color
• The role of education in shaping attitudes towards inequality
• The effects of poverty on cognitive development
• The impact of housing segregation on social mobility
• The role of religion in shaping attitudes towards social inequality
• The effects of income inequality on political participation
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous cultures
• The role of social norms in perpetuating gender inequality
• The effects of income inequality on social cohesion
• The impact of war and conflict on refugee communities
• The role of social media in shaping perceptions of poverty
• The effects of discrimination on access to healthcare
• The impact of gentrification on cultural identity
• The role of education in shaping attitudes towards race
• The effects of globalization on cultural diversity
• The impact of incarceration on economic opportunities
• The role of social networks in shaping access to resources
• The effects of climate change on agricultural communities
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous languages
• The role of social norms in shaping attitudes towards disability
• The effects of income inequality on mental health
• The impact of war and conflict on children
• The role of education in shaping attitudes towards immigration
• The effects of discrimination on access to housing
• The impact of gentrification on community cohesion
• The role of religion in shaping attitudes towards poverty
• The effects of income inequality on social trust
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous rights
• The role of social media in shaping perceptions of inequality
• The effects of discrimination on access to education
• The impact of incarceration on family relationships
• The role of social networks in shaping access to employment
• The effects of climate change on coastal communities
• The impact of war and conflict on mental health
• The role of education in shaping attitudes towards gender
• The effects of globalization on cultural identity
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous traditions
• The role of social norms in perpetuating racial inequality
• The effects of income inequality on social capital
• The impact of war and conflict on refugee rights
• The role of education in shaping attitudes towards poverty
• The effects of discrimination on access to transportation
• The impact of globalization on cultural preservation
• The role of social media in shaping perceptions of discrimination
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous identities
• The role of social norms in shaping attitudes towards immigration
• The effects of discrimination on access to legal representation
• The impact of war and conflict on community resilience
• The role of education in shaping attitudes towards disability
• The effects of globalization on cultural exchange
• The impact of colonization on indigenous land rights
• The impact of war and conflict on children's rights
• The effects of discrimination on access to affordable housing
• The impact of gentrification on community development
• The role of religion in shaping attitudes towards social justice
• The effects of income inequality on social mobility
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous health
• The role of social norms in perpetuating gender stereotypes

These are just a few examples of the many ways in which social inequality can manifest in society. By choosing one of these topics (or coming up with one of your own), you can delve deeper into the complexities of this issue and explore how it impacts individuals and communities in different ways. Whether you are writing a research paper, a policy analysis, or a reflective essay, these topics will provide you with a solid foundation for exploring the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to social inequality. Good luck with your writing!

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21 Social Inequality Examples

Social inequality is “the condition where people have unequal access to valued resources, services and positions in society” (Kerbo, 2003, p. 11).

It is broader than just wealth inequality because it also includes factors like discrimination and access to government support.

When social inequality occurs, there is an uneven distribution of resources between individuals or groups, and this happens in almost all societies. These resources and rights go from education, to power, status and so on.

Social inequality is the result of social hierarchy or stratification , with class, gender, race, ethnicity , or sexuality being part of the experience of social inequality. According to theories like the Davis-Moore thesis , it’s also an inevitable feature of society.

Social Inequality Definition

In the field of sociology, unlike economics, social inequality is taken to include differences on many levels: income, resources, power, status, social capital, as well as in levels of social inclusion and exclusion (Warwick-Booth, 2018).

When social inequality occurs, there is an unequal distribution of and unequal access to material and non-material goods:

• Material goods could be income, but also things like housing.
• Non-material social goods refer to intangible things such as access to social networks or social status .

In this sense, social inequality is a multi-faceted approach to uneven differences in access to resources for different social positions or statuses within a group or society.

Thus, dimensions like gender, sexuality, ethnicity or class all impact on being able to access, or not, social goods and resources as well as opportunities.

Social inequality is important because it has an impact on people’s life chances, in their living conditions, their work opportunities and the overall life outcomes of both individuals and groups (Suter, 2014).

Social Inequality Examples

• Wealth inequality: Wealth plays a major role in social perpetuating inequality. People with higher net worth have greater access to resources, can out-bid poorer people for access to limited resources, and can buy access to people in power.
• Income inequality: Income inequality functions in a similar way to wealth inequality, but refers to unequal distribution of money in the workforce. For example, the wage differential between CEOs and workers has spiked in recent decades, which has exacerbated social inequalities.
• Access to basic education: Access to basic education is unequal when wealthier neighborhoods have better primary schools, or when lack of public transit to schooling acts as a substantial barrier for poorer people.
• Access to higher education: Inequal access to education can be a result of factors such as geographical barriers and financial barriers. Without higher education, it is harder to achieve social mobility .
• Age inequality : Also known as ageism , this refers to discrimination against people based on their age. For example, it occurs in relation to access to employment for those over the age of 50.
• Deprived neighborhoods: Deprived neighborhoods are an example of how it is not only individuals who suffer inequality. Sometimes, whole areas can be affected by the unequal distribution of rights and resources. This happens, for example, when some neighborhoods have restricted access to hospitals and transport.
• Housing inequality: Having access to a house, or living in sufficient accommodation, is both a cause and a consequence of social inequality. Living in a social housing, for example, is related to being at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
• Racial inequality: Inequality based on race can be a result of systemic and intergenerational racism, a discriminatory attitude by which access to rights has not been distributed equally across people of different races, and which has been passed down through generations of deprivation.
• Gender inequality: Inequality based on gender is called sexism, a discriminatory attitude by which women are more likely to be worse off in the equality scales. For example, they tend to earn less than men for the same jobs.
• Health access inequality: Inequal access to healthcare is most starkly shown by the rural-urban divide (where rural people often need to travel to cities to receive care) and the class divide, where working-class people often find funding to be a barrier to access to quality care ( see more social determinants of health here ).
• Caste systems: Traditional caste societies deny access to jobs based on your ascribed status at birth. Furthermore, they may deny people from marrying one another across castes.
• Geographical inequality: Geographical inequality can be within a nation (e.g. the rural-urban divide) as well as globally (e.g. developing vs developed nations).
• Citizenship status: People may face limited protections based upon their citizenship. While it’s generally accepted that a tourist in a country shouldn’t access some public services covered by taxation, when non-citizens are denied human rights like access to a lawyer, we might start to consider citizenship status as a dimension of inequality in a society.
• Child poverty: Child poverty is a key driver of social inequality. People born into poverty can experience malnutrition, poorer educational results, and lower overall lifetime earnings on average.
• Power and status inequality: Access to powerful people is unequally distributed. People who are privileged on the social hierarchy have higher social status and consequently have more access to people in powerful political and corporate positions. There is also inequal power distribution between men and women, as demonstrated by the glass ceiling phenomenon .
• LGBT discrimination: Historically, LGBT people have faced discrimination that has affected their ability to do many things heterosexual people can access, including starting and raising a family, and accessing healthcare as spouses.
• Intergenerational inequality: This occurs when one generation in society has had greater access to resources than others at similar points in their lives. For example, in the UK and Australia, baby boomers had free higher education, which was denied to future generations who had to pay for it. This affected future generations’ prospects in a way that did not affect baby bookers.
• Incarceration rates: Taking a look at incarceration rates versus rates in which different racial groups commit crimes can demonstrate how people of color are more likely to be imprisoned if they are caught committing a crime.
• Service inequality: Unequal access to services can be seen across many vectors of society, including the rural-urban divide and rich-poor divide.
• Discriminatory laws: Laws that entrench discrimination, such as segregation laws , can be a source of social inequality.
• Indigenous inequality: Fist nations groups have long suffered from inequal access to resources in society. One demonstration of this is the lack of clean drinking water in many first nations communities in Canada.

Case Studies

1. social inequality and gender.

Gender is a key dimension of social inequality, as for a variety of reasons, the unfair treatment of people based on their gender still happens in contemporary society. 

There are three main areas in which gender inequality can be found: health, education, and the workplace.

For example, in relation to health, although women live longer than men, they have more ill health throughout their lives.

In terms of education, there is still segregation in certain subjects, for example, computing or engineering are still dominated by men. Finally, in the workplace, we find that is called the glass ceiling , which stops women from progressing in their careers. 

2. Social inequality and ethnicity

Racism is the expression of social inequality based on a person’s, or a group, race or ethnicity.

It has been shown that people of ethnic minority backgrounds experience higher rates of unemployment, they are more likely to be prosecuted by the criminal justice, and also be victims of crime, live in inadequate housing, have bad mental and physical health or be excluded from education. These are examples of institutional racism .

All of these cause social inequality in the middle and longer term and slims down ethnic minorities’ life chances.

3. Social inequality and health

There is a clear relation between social inequality and health, for multiple reasons.

For example, income determines being able to afford things like gym membership or fresh fruit, which keeps people healthier..

Occupation also has a role in health inequality a life expectancy, for example, teachers live longer than plumbers.

Finally, in countries in which there is no universal health coverage those with higher incomes will have greater access to services, from health promotion, to prevention or treatment.

4. Social inequality and age

Ageism refers to stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age.

While ageism can be directed towards younger or older people, in terms of inequality, it is in older groups that the focus will be put on. People who are older may experience discrimination in the workplace, for example, in terms of accessing jobs which can lead to higher rates of unemployment.

Furthermore, older people with small pensions have less spending power and thus less access to certain resources, for example, paying for leisure and cultural activities , thus putting them at a disadvantage.

5. Social inequality and income or wealth

While social inequality is not solely based on income or wealth, money, whether from the job one does or from access to family wealth, plays a role in accessing resources.

This greater access to resources mean that some people at a greater advantage than others, for example, in relation to good health and educations. As has been explained, this difference in access to resources is at the heart of social inequality and it impacts on people’s life changes, hence its importance.

Social inequality is a complex subject due to its transversal nature: as it has been pointed out, it is more than just having more or less money. In social inequality there are many factors at play, such as gender, age or ethnicity as well as other aspects like class or neighborhood.

The importance of fighting off social inequality lies in its cumulative nature and in how it determines people’s life chances, sometimes for generations.

Doob, C. B. (2019). Social inequality and social stratification in US society. London: Routledge.

Hurst, C.; Fitz Gibon, H. & Nurse, A. (2016) Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences . New York: Routledge

Kerbo, H. R. (2003).  Social stratification and inequality. Class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective . Boston: McGrawHill.

Thompson, R. (2019). Education, Inequality and Social Class. Expansion and Stratification in Educational Opportunity . New York: Routledge.

Warwick-Booth, L. (2018). Social Inequality . New York: Sage

Wisdom, S., Leavitt, L., & Bice, C. (Eds.). (2019).  Handbook of research on social inequality and education . London: IGI Global.

Rosa Panades (PhD)

Dr. Panades is a multifaceted sociologist with experience working in a variety of fields, from familiy relations, to teenage pregnancy, housing, women in science or social innvovation. She has worked in international, european and local projects, both in the UK and in Spain. She has an inquisitive and analytical mind and a passion for knowledge, cultural and social issues.

Rosa holds a PhD in Sociology on the topic of young fatherhood from the University of Greenwich, London.

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Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

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Inequality - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

Inequality can manifest in various forms, such as economic, social, or gender-based disparities. Essays on inequality could delve into the structural and systemic factors contributing to inequality, its impact on individuals and societies, and historical and contemporary examples of inequality. Further, discussions might explore policy initiatives and societal movements aimed at addressing and reducing inequality. A vast selection of complimentary essay illustrations pertaining to Inequality you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Racial Inequality in America

The United States has been struggling with racial inequality for decades, and the media has been paying more attention to this issue. Race can impact the likelihood of graduating high school, attending college, or even maintaining a livable income as an adult (Back and Solomos, 2020). An individual's racial ethnicity is a factor when determining these outcomes and is worth noting. If you are skeptical of your race's role in the number of options you have, look no further than […]

What is Racial Inequality?

Racial inequality is systematically different from racial discrimination and racism. Racial discrimination involves the treatment of racial inequality while racial inequality involves the consequences of inequality such as, income, education, health, etc. Racism often involves these two processes, but modern forms of racial inequality and discrimination are not necessarily the direct consequences of modern racism (Pager and Shepherd, 2008). Racist sociology studies that relationships between these three phenomena when, how, why and to what extent? In the post-civil rights era […]

Gender Wage Gap and Gender Equality

Although men and women have made great strides for gender equality in recent years, the economic pay gap between men and women still persists. The Gender Wage Gap refers to the general gap between what similarly qualified men and women are paid for the same job. It is most commonly measured in the median annual pay of all women who work full time compared to a similar group of men. However, whichever way it is measured, the gender pay gap […]

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U.S. Income Inequality

Throughout the history of capitalism, income inequalities between the upper and lower classes have caused many debates even revolutions in Russia, France, China, and others. The mass workers are subjected to the dominant ideology of elites, so the top ten percent earn a large amount of money while the lower class barely survives. The middle class came about which filled some of the disparity in income between the two classes. However, the middle-class today is losing some ground as job […]

Gender Inequality and Feminism

Gender inequality is a concept which has been occurring over a number of years and due to gender differences it fuels up gender inequality, which gave rise to gender socialization. Gender socialization is the process of learning gender roles which emerge from society and nowadays social media, throughout this process men and women learn their roles in society. The most common attribute we ascribe to women is that they can be vulnerable and sensitive, on the other hand, men hear […]

The Dilemma of Affirmative Action

According to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Affirmative action means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from which they have been historically excluded. When those steps involve preferential selection?”selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity affirmative action generates intense controversy(Fullinwinder,2009). With this being said, incorporation of ethics plays a crucial role in ensuring achievement of a fair and just community where everyone is perceived as equals which […]

Martin Luther King and Racial Inequality

Racial inequality has been a problem in America for many decades. In the 1950s and 1960s, the American Civil Rights Movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., became the largest deterrent to this dilemma. It brought more equal opportunity for African Americans, in terms of employment, housing, education and voting rights. This made an immense impact to the future of America, bringing a close unity for American citizens. But lately there has been a burgeoning conflict within the country's […]

Economic Inequality and Governmental Responsibility

Ever since the emergence of civilization several hundreds of years ago, social inequality has been a prevalent aspect of many societies across the world. This social structure developed as a result of several factors, amongst them political and economic status in the society. During the early stages of civilization, social and political status was closely related whereby the few powerful political leaders tended to be wealthier than the lesser politically influential majority. Although this dynamic is still prevalent in developing […]

Civil Rights Regarding Gay Rights

The twenty-first century is one of the most vibrant periods in history when it comes to civil rights. This is especially in the United States where the ideology concerning civil rights has been emphasized and highly recognized. The fight for civil rights in America is a journey that has last for many decades and has brought with it many positive changes to the American people in terms of minimizing discrimination (Ware, 2012). Even so, the widened awareness and protection of […]

Income Inequality and Economic Growth in Pakistan

In time series data, which indicates that increasing income inequality is likely to spur higher levels of GDP, certain examples become apparent. For instance, Shahbaz (2010) employed a time series data on Pakistan for the period 1971-2005, using the ARDL bound test approach, to determine the relationship between income inequality and economic growth in Pakistan. The results show that income inequality is positively and significantly related in both long-run and short-run with economic growth in Pakistan. Gelan and Price (2003) […]

Sexual Harassment in the Work Place and Gender Inequality

Abbas, Sammar. "All Males Are the Same: Exploring Workplace Harassment of Female Employees." Pakistan Journal of Women's Studies, vol. 24, no. 24, 2017, pp. 47-65. EBSCOhost, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.ung.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=735b46f2-7f65-434d-8b37-4967f7b3929f%40sessionmgr4009&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=sih&AN=127020504 Abbas, in "All Males Are the Same: Exploring Workplace Harassment of Female Employees," addresses the issue of workplace sexual harassment towards females, which is common in many countries, specifically the Middle East. The article explores how workplace sexual harassment towards women contributes to the cause of gender inequality. Abbas supports his claim with […]

African American People with Racism

African American people continue to encounter blatant racism today after all the improvement in the civil rights refinement after all these decades. There are different types of racism present in American life today. Racism has a direct effect on everyone’s life, white people included; it molds the large historical circumstances of minorities in endless negative ways. I am not saying that we have not made great strides but just because we are not facing the racism of the past does […]

Crime and Social Justice on Gender Inequality

I'm using these five sources to talk about crime and social justice on gender inequality. Gender inequality is more of a social injustice because gender inequality is an unfair practice between men and women being carried out in the society. Within discussing this topic, I talk about racism and sexism. My topic is towards African Americans and women in the workplace. How come African American women or women, in general, are not seen as an equal to men? Cheeks, Maura. […]

The Problems on Income Inequality

In this part, we continue to briefly summarize our empirical analyses based on the ARDL model techniques adopted. The findings of this study are summarized below. Firstly, the objectives of the study were analyzed using cointegration analysis tests and the ARDL bound test on the national level data, covering the period of 2004-2016. The first step taken in the cointegration test involved carrying out a unit root test for each variable and determining their order of integration. The results indicated […]

The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries

In today’s world, gender equality is seen as a crucial need. According to the U.N., “1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15-49 have reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period”. In developed countries, tremendous efforts have been made in order to achieve the goal of gender equality as now in 46 countries, “women now hold more than 30 percent of seats in national parliament in at least one chamber.” […]

Societies where Inequality is Dominant

A study revealed that in societies where inequality is dominant, people from lower classes behave more prosocially than people from higher classes, especially when that behavior does not occur in public, with others to observe it (Manstead, 2018). Another study found various mixed results concerning whether family income and socioeconomic status affect a child's gender role attitude. This main study conducted numerous surveys and found some surveys revealed that this factor is not significant in predicting gender egalitarianism in children. […]

Debates Around Affirmative Action Issues

Affirmative action is a largely debated topic in the political world. It is a policy that was formed in 1961 and favors people who are often discriminated against, such as African Americans, Asians, and more, especially in employment or education. It is often used to help disadvantaged citizens of the United States to gain an advantage in certain scenarios. Affirmative action doesn't simply prefer one race over another, it just takes race out of the decision process. I believe that […]

The Issue of Gender Inequality Within Society

According to the International Labour Organization, “equality in pay has improved in the US since 1979 when women earned about 62% as much as men. In 2010, American women on average earned 81% of what their male counterparts earned. Women’s participation in the U.S. labor force climbed during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 60 percent in 2000. However, in 2010 this figure has declined to 46.7 percent and is not expected to increase by 2018.” (“Gender Inequality and Women in […]

Spatial Aspects of Poverty and Inequality

Spatial analysis of poverty and inequality requires powerful technology, serving as the only means to accurately classify places based on the wealth they possess. The utility of technology spans various activities, with climate analysis as an exemplar. The evaluation of disasters related to climate change or weather shifts and natural events like earthquakes demands advanced technology. Tools such as Remote Sensors are instrumental in discovering intricate details about different places. As proposed by Herold et al., hidden aspects about regions […]

Gender Inequality in Broadcast Journalism

The news media is one of thea most powerful institution whichs that exerts a tremendous amount of influence on society. Although more women females are entering the male dominated newsroom, women are still underrepresented and excluded in many differentmultiple ways. It is evident that females hold a strong interest in journalism; in fact, sixty- five percent of journalism school graduates are female However, women only represent thirty percent of jobs in journalism. , Tand this gender disparity is evident in […]

Inequality and Social Stratification

Inequality and social stratification is global. Gender stratification, in economic situations, places men, even when doing a more feminine job, more important. In the work environment, universities and places of learning, organizations, even home life, men are perceived to be more important, have more power and authority and more respect simply because of gender. Even though, with more gender-neutral attitudes and reversal of roles, masculinity and femininity are still based on social interpretations based on culture, economics and status, or […]

Affirmative Action Policy

Attention Getter: According to data from the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES), in 2007, 70 percent of white high school graduates immediately enrolled in college, compared to 56 percent of African American graduates and 61 percent of Hispanic graduates.  More recent data from NCES reports some changes in this gap, most notably for African American students.  The updated report finds that in 2011, 69 percent of white high school graduates immediately enrolled in college, compared to 65 percent of […]

Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Gender inequality in the workplace has been an ongoing issue for decades now. Men and women have never been on the same page when it comes to work. Women have always been known to be more of caregivers and men have been given the tougher tasks. Gender stereotypes have always played a major role in assigning women to lower paying and lower status jobs in comparison to men. Discrimination against women can occur in many ways throughout the workplace, such […]

Gender Inequality in the Medical Field

Introduction The medical field is consistently one of the best job fields to enter because of the positive job outlook and high salary. This may not be true for women, however. The large amount of gender discrimination and harassment may be enough to keep women away from the medical field, specifically female doctors. In this day and age there is no reason why women cannot become doctors and they are not lesser than their male peers, especially in the 21st […]

Inequality of Pay in Sports

"In the quest for women to receive adequate resources, sponsorships and financial compensation you will always find yourself touching the very controversial topic of “inequality of pay in sports”. Sports has brought inequality of pay to an even more heighten level (Hutt, Pgf 4). Even though women in sports has been evolving around the world, the disparity of the financial pay gap has been present since women were introduced to sports (Clark, Section 13). Women have faced all the trials […]

Gender Inequality in Education

Culturally, there is a belief that every individual has the same chance to succeed in society. Even in our constitution, it states that all men are created equal. What is underlying in this belief is that a failure to succeed is the fault of the gender or race of the individual. Inequalities in educational institutions affect students in various ways; providing greater impact on children from lower socio-economic backgrounds and maintaining advantages of those with money, which are then passed […]

History of Affirmative Action Creation

Affirmative Action Affirmative Action was created by President John F. Kennedy through an executive order in 1961, continued through Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, and so forth. The rationale behind affirmative action was to promote diversity and end job discrimination. It sought to even the playing field, giving minorities the opportunity to pursue higher education or a career field. The objective was to rectify the social inequality faced by many oppressed minority groups at a certain point in United States history. […]

Gender Inequality in China

"Mao Zedong once said, “women hold up half the sky.” This famous quote has been interpreted by people for nearly one-hundred years. All interpretations tying back to one basic core idea that women hold just as much priority in the world as men do. However, in present-day China, social standards are far from equal between the two genders. Men still earn more money than their female counterparts, the gender ratio of the country is still out of balance, and boys […]

Gender Inequality: Causes and Impacts

Gender Equality is “A state of having same rights, status and opportunities like others, regardless of one’s gender.” Gender inequality is “unequal treatment or perception of an individual based on their gender.” In the United States of America Gender Equality has progressed through the past decades. Due to different Cultural context, countries around the world lack Gender Equality. Gender inequality remains a issue worldwide, mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. Equality of Gender is normalized in the United […]

Gender Inequality Affects Everyone

Gender inequality has never been a new thing in the United States. This cultural phenomenon has deeply rooted in people’s minds and has been affecting their behaviors for a really long time. Gender inequality generally defines as that men and women in some way are not equal. Gender inequality recognizes gender inequality and gender influences an individual’s life experience. These differences stem from the distinctions in biology, psychology, and cultural norms. Some of these differences are based on experience, while […]

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Key Concepts of Social Inequalities

• First Online: 12 May 2019

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• Alfredo Mela 3 &
• Alessia Toldo 4  

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Geography ((BRIEFSGEOGRAPHY))

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This second chapter analyses with a critical approach a set of key concepts for the study of social inequalities. In relation to each of them, some definitions will be compared, highlighting the theoretical differences underlying them and the possible consequences of their use in the construction of urban policies. At the same time, the similarities and differences between these concepts will be highlighted, trying to make the reader aware of the risks deriving from an improper use of them. These key words are divided into three groups. The first is related to some fundamental concepts referring to the insertion of specific groups of social actors in a social system, such as integration , inclusion , as well as terms with opposite meanings and, in particular, exclusion and expulsion . The second group takes into consideration concepts more directly linked to urban processes; in particular, terms like segregation , spatial polarisation , and urban dualism . Finally, the third group includes terms related to social and cultural processes that strengthen inequalities between social groups and favour the assignment of marginal roles to minorities: in this sense, therefore, the concepts related to the symbolic power, such as stigmatisation and discrimination are taken into consideration.

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Mela, A., Toldo, A. (2019). Key Concepts of Social Inequalities. In: Socio-Spatial Inequalities in Contemporary Cities. SpringerBriefs in Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17256-5_2

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77 Income Inequality Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on income inequality, ✍️ income inequality essay topics for college, 👍 good income inequality research topics & essay examples, 🌶️ hot income inequality ideas to write about.

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• Economic Inequality and Its Relationship to Poverty This research paper will discuss the problem of economic inequality and show how this concept relates to poverty.
• Addressing Economic Inequality: The Pandemic Challenge Economic inequality continues to be relevant to modern society, with the full range of human rights being available only to the wealthy minority.
• Economic Inequality and Pandemic Challenge The most vulnerable populations were affected by the coronavirus pandemic because they often could not access economic and public health resources to meet their needs.
• Economic Inequality Between Genders Discussions on the problems of gender inequality have been going on for decades that’s why the difference in the earnings between men and women is called the gender pay gap.
• Pandemic Challenge and Economic Inequality The coronavirus pandemic has presented two significant challenges for American society: public health and economic crises.
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A Developmental Science Perspective on Social Inequality

Laura elenbaas.

1 University of Rochester

Michael T. Rizzo

2 New York University

3 Beyond Conflict Innovation Lab, Boston, MA

Melanie Killen

4 University of Maryland

Many people believe in equality of opportunity, but overlook and minimize the structural factors that shape social inequalities in the United States and around the world, such as systematic exclusion (e.g., educational, occupational) based on group membership (e.g., gender, race, socioeconomic status). As a result, social inequalities persist, and place marginalized social groups at elevated risk for negative emotional, learning, and health outcomes. Where do the beliefs and behaviors that underlie social inequalities originate? Recent evidence from developmental science indicates that an awareness of social inequalities begins in childhood, and that children seek to explain the underlying causes of the disparities that they observe and experience. Moreover, children and adolescents show early capacities for understanding and rectifying inequalities when regulating access to resources in peer contexts. Drawing on a social reasoning developmental framework, this paper synthesizes what is currently known about children’s and adolescents’ awareness, beliefs, and behavior concerning social inequalities, and highlights promising avenues by which developmental science can help reduce harmful assumptions and foster a more just society.

Despite the fact that many people believe in equality of opportunity, many also overlook the structural factors that shape social and economic disparities in the United States and around the world. These structural factors include, for example, historical and current exclusion from residential, educational, and occupational opportunities on the basis of gender, race, socioeconomic status, or other group memberships ( Bullock, 2019 ; Kraus et al., 2019 ). As a result, excluded social groups continue to have fewer opportunities for upward mobility and experience elevated risk for negative emotional, learning, and health outcomes ( Duncan & Mumane, 2011 ; Wilkinson & Pickett, 2017 ). Psychological science plays a crucial role in illuminating the processes that underlie people’s responses to social inequality. For example, research has shown that social inequalities persist in part because many people under-estimate their true magnitude, are not motivated to correct disparities that benefit their social groups, or hold negative stereotypes about marginalized groups ( Arsenio, 2018 ; Lott, 2012 ; Roberts & Rizzo, 2020 ). In order to address the psychological roots of these inequalities, we need to know where these beliefs and attitudes come from, and how we might encourage a more equitable and just understanding of the causes and consequences of social inequalities. In this paper, we offer a developmental perspective that begins to address these two questions.

In the past decade, developmental scientists have been at the forefront of efforts to understand how youth develop an awareness of social inequalities, seek explanations for their causes, form judgments of their consequences, and enact behavioral responses, based on their personal experiences with social inequalities and the influences of micro (e.g., family, peer) and macro (e.g., school, media) social contexts ( Arsenio, 2015 ; Ruck et al., 2019 ). Although children have few direct opportunities to influence societal-level inequalities (e.g., through voting, protesting), they regularly experience social inequalities in their peer and family contexts, and take on a range of different roles (e.g., perpetuator, rectifier, victim, witness) within these inequalities ( Killen et al., 2018 ). As a result, research is beginning to uncover not only the developmental processes that exacerbate social inequalities, but also potential pathways for promoting greater consideration of equity in childhood. In fact, developmental science is uniquely positioned to illuminate the factors that motivate children and adults to either ignore, exacerbate, or challenge social inequalities in their everyday interactions.

Social Reasoning Developmental Model

One branch of current research on how youth conceptualize social inequalities is informed by the social reasoning developmental (SRD) model ( Killen et al., 2018 ; Rutland et al., 2010 ). The SRD model focuses on reasoning, judgments, and decisions about moral and social issues, and how these processes change across development. It integrates concepts from social domain theory (e.g., how children reason about social-conventional, moral, and personal concerns) and social identity theory (e.g., how intra- and inter-group dynamics shape decisionmaking) to provide a framework for understanding how children make sense of moral issues (e.g., denial of resources) that occur in inter-group contexts.

The SRD model takes a constructivist view in postulating that children’s social-cognitive development stems from their reflections and abstractions based on their everyday interactions which, in turn, enable them to infer, evaluate, and judge actions and events in their world ( Killen & Rutland, 2011 ). In contrast to nativist or socialization perspectives, constructivist theories regarding the origins of social cognition emphasize the central role of the child in actively interpreting and making sense of their social world ( Killen & Smetana, 2015 ; Turiel, 1983 ). Within this broader theoretical perspective, the SRD model proposes that reasoning about morality, group identity, and the psychological states of others emerges early in childhood and coexists throughout development (see Figure 1 ). Each of these domains of knowledge are brought to bear when children and adolescents consider complex issues, such as social inequalities. What changes across development is the complexity of children’s and adolescents’ moral reasoning, the depth of their understanding of social group dynamics, their awareness of others’ mental state capacities, and their ability to coordinate and balance these overlapping concerns.

Social Reasoning Developmental (SRD) Model proposes that children and adolescents bring three forms of knowledge to bear on their reasoning about social inequalities: moral, group, and psychological.

In order to understand the orgins, development, and sources of influence on thinking about social inequalities, research from the SRD perspective has examined how children’s and adolescents’ understanding of moral, group, and psychological concepts are applied to their emerging: 1) awareness of social inequalities, 2) explanations for these inequalities, and 3) behavior aimed at increasing or reducing social inequalities. In this paper, we synthesize research from the SRD framework, as well as related research in developmental science, to outline what is currently known about children’s and adolescents’ awareness, beliefs, and behavior concerning social inequalities, and highlight promising avenues to encourage positive change.

Awareness of Social Inequalities

Being aware of social inequalities means recognizing the existence of disparities in access to resources or opportunities between social groups. On the most basic level, children are cognitively equipped to notice resource inequalities from early in development. Already in their first year of life, infants notice when someone has more toys than someone else ( Sommerville, 2018 ). By the time they reach kindergarten, children attend to wealth inequalities, identifying their peers as “poor” or “rich”, alongside other forms of social categorization (e.g., gender, ethnicity) ( Hazelbaker et al., 2018 ; Shutts, 2015 ). Over the course of adolescence, youth view U.S. society as increasingly economically stratified and also increasingly link economic status and race, associating White and Asian Americans with higher income and wealth than Black and Latinx Americans ( Arsenio & Willems, 2017 ; Ghavami & Mistry, 2019 ). However, even adults under-estimate the true extent to which wealth is unequally distributed in society, as well as the true magnitude of current racial wealth gaps ( Arsenio, 2018 ; Kraus et al., 2019 ).

Moreover, children’s own status or the status of their social group can lead them to deny or minimize the extent of social inequalities. For example, in one recent experiment, Rizzo and Killen (2020) randomly assigned 3- to 8 year-old children to either an advantaged group (had more resources than an outgroup) or a disadvantaged group (had fewer resources than an outgroup). Children assigned to the advantaged group were more likely to see the resource inequality as fair, support attempts to perpetuate the inequality, and keep more resources for their own group when given the chance.

Similarly, Elenbaas and colleagues (2016) randomly assigned European-American and African-American children, ages 5- to 6 and 10- to 11 years, to witness an experimental inequality of school supplies that placed either their racial ingroup or outgroup at a disadvantage. Young children whose ingroup was disadvantaged judged the inequality to be unfair and took steps to correct it, but young children whose outgroup was disadvantaged did not (see Figure 2 ). Older children, by contrast, rectified the inequality under both conditions and reasoned about the importance of ensuring equal access to resources (e.g., “Both schools should have the same amount of supplies for learning”).

Young children corrected a resource inequality that disadvantaged their racial ingroup but not an inequality that disadvantaged their outgroup.

From an SRD perspective, these results reveal what happens when children prioritize group concerns over moral concerns, and how the prioritization of these concerns develops during childhood. Whereas younger children in both studies struggled to balance concerns for ingroup benefit with concerns for equity, older children’s reasoning and decision-making reflected a more generalized concern for ensuring fair access to resources that took precedence over social preferences. Because ingroup concerns remain common throughout development, however, it is important to identify which social contexts enable children and adolescents to see the bigger picture and align their moral behavior with their moral judgments.

Explanations for Social Inequalities

Generating an explanation for a social inequality entails forming beliefs about how disparities in access to resources or opportunities between social groups came to be. Children and adolescents are able to consider multiple possible sources for social inequalities, and not all sources are perceived to be unfair ( Arsenio & Willems, 2017 ; Flanagan et al., 2014 ; Starmans et al., 2017 ). For instance, many people –youth and adults– explain social inequalities in terms of traditions and authority, including the need to maintain a predictable status quo and the idea that it is normal or typical for some groups to succeed and others not to. Other explanations are moral in nature. For instance, social inequalities cause direct and indirect harm to members of marginalized groups as a result of systemic discrimination and are thus in need of rectification. Finally, many explanations weigh moral, societal (economic systems), and psychological rationales, including beliefs that economic systems are designed to give everyone an equal pportunity for upward mobility and that a certain amount of inequality in society is motivating for people.

By kindergarten, children believe that greater effort entitles an individual person to a greater share of rewards (e.g., someone who tries harder at a game deserves to keep their winnings) ( Rizzo et al., 2016 ). However, when scaled up to the social group level, early-emerging judgments about merit can lead to negative stereotypes that marginalized and excluded groups “deserve” their status. For instance, young children stereotype poor peers as less competent than rich peers ( Shutts et al., 2016 ). Similarly, children hold stereotypes that African-Americans are less hardworking than European-Americans and girls are less intelligent than boys ( Bian et al., 2017 ; Pauker et al., 2016 ). In fact, although adolescents are more likely than children to generate structural explanations for social inequalities (e.g., systemic racism, classism, or sexism), these explanations typically exist alongside problematic assumptions about differences in social groups’ motivation, effort, and ingenuity, rather than replacing them ( Flanagan et al., 2014 ; Godfrey et al., 2019 ).

Explaining the underlying causes of social inequalities is challenging because observing an existing disparity (e.g., a racial disparity in access to education) does not provide enough information to infer its cause, and because the messages that children receive (e.g., from adults, media sources) about the nature and origins of social inequalities are often incomplete or ambiguous. As a result, children’s awareness and understanding of the complex structural factors underlying social inequalities (e.g., political systems that exclude the poor, residential systems that exclude ethnic minorities, educational systems that exclude girls) is limited and interacts with other cognitive biases. For example, when children are asked to generate explanations for resource inequalities between novel groups (e.g., the Orps and the Blarks), children often assume that group differences resulted from internal factors (e.g., work ethic, natural ability) rather than external factors (e.g., discrimination) ( Hussak & Cimpian, 2015 ).

Behavior in Contexts Involving Social Inequalities

Children’s and adolescents’ reasoning about the causes of social inequalities informs their thinking about what (if anything) should be done to address them. For example, in one experiment, Rizzo and colleagues (2018) tested 3- to 8-year-old children’s responses to individually-based inequalities (i.e., one peer received more prizes than another because they worked harder) or structurally-based inequalities (i.e., one peer received more prizes than another because the person giving out prizes had a gender bias). In response to the individually-based inequality, children gave more resources to the hardworking peer and reasoned about merit (e.g., “She did a better job at the activities”). In response to the structurally-based inequality, children gave more resources to the peer who had received less because of a gender bias and reasoned about equality (e.g., “They should get the same number”). These results confirm young children’s belief that individual effort should be rewarded, but also highlight emerging concerns for equity in response to structurally-based inequalities. When children had clear and unambiguous evidence that resources were allocated unjustly, they acted to correct the disparity.

Similarly, one recent experiment informed early adolescents that access to an educational opportunity (a science summer camp) had historically been restricted such that only wealthy children or only poor children had attended ( Elenbaas, 2019a ). When they had the chance to determine who should attend the camp “this summer,” participants favored the group that had been excluded in the past, particularly when that group was poor. Moreover, the larger the economic “gap” in access to opportunities that participants perceived in broader society, the more they supported including poor peers in this particular opportunity (see Figure 3 ) and reasoned about fair access to learning (e.g., “Everyone has the right to education no matter what background they come from”).

Early adolescents who perceived a larger economic “gap” in access to opportunities in favor of high-wealth peers were more supportive of including low-wealth peers in a learning opportunity.

These studies, both drawing on the SRD model to understand children’s and adolescents’ reasoning and behavior in contexts involving moral issues (differential access to resources and opportunities) on inter-group levels (involving gender or social class), have intriguing implications for how to reduce harmful stereotypes about the causes of social inequalities. When children know –from their own direct observations or from others’ testimony– that an inequality is rooted in structural discrimination or bias, most children support efforts to reduce it. The challenge is that children rarely receive this direct and unambiguous evidence. While the idea that anyone can achieve success with enough effort and ambition is widely available to children in national, social, and educational discourse, children receive far less consistent information about the historical and societal contexts for why some social groups are advantaged over others. However, this may offer a point of entry for adults interested in increasing children’s recognition of the complex structural causes of social inequalities.

Supporting Complex Reasoning about Social Inequalities

Providing opportunities for analysis and reflection on the sources and consequences of social inequalities may help youth develop a critical understanding of the social, economic, and political systems that they are a part of ( Seider et al., 2018 ). For example, research on family racial-ethnic socialization indicates that conversations about discrimination can contribute to adolescents’ structural explanations for social inequalities (e.g., systemic racism) ( Bañales et al., 2019 ). Similarly, research on civic engagement has shown that adolescents who frequently discuss current events with their parents have a better understanding of structural contributors to poverty ( Flanagan et al., 2014 ). Likewise, research on critical consciousness indicates that discussions with parents, teachers, mentors, and peers can foster adolescents’ awareness of sociopolitical conditions and motivation to address social inequalities ( Diemer et al., 2016 ). Although little research has examined the messages about social inequality that pre-adolescent children may receive, they, too, are becoming aware of social inequalities, and likely consider their parents’ and teachers’ opinions when forming beliefs about their causes.

Relationships with peers whose experiences differ from their own may also help youth reject stereotypes and develop a deeper understanding of social inequalities. For instance, research on inter-group contact indicates that having a friend from a different racial background is associated with lower racial stereotypes ( Aboud & Brown, 2013 ). Similarly, cross-SES friendships may encourage children’s fairness reasoning. In one recent study, children from zupper-middle income families who reported more contact with peers from lower-income backgrounds were more likely to reason about differences in access to resources when sharing toys, and shared more equitably ( Elenbaas, 2019b ). Although, it is not yet known whether interactions with higher-SES peers have a similar impact on lower-SES children’s reasoning, these results point to how everyday interactions with friends may raise children’s consideration of the immediate consequences of resource disparities.

Future Directions for Research

Understanding children’s and adolescents’ thinking about social inequality is a new area of research in developmental science ( Ruck et al., 2019 ). We now know that youth face challenges in becoming aware of the existence and extent of social inequalities, understanding their structural causes, and deciding how to address social inequalities. Moreover, both the potential for ingroup benefit and negative stereotypes about disadvantaged groups lead to more exclusive and inequitable behavior.

We also know, however, that children’s concerns for justice and fairness emerge early, and enable them to identify and work to correct instances of inequality within their sphere of influence. We suggest a continued research focus on the questions of origins and development that have framed a great deal of work in this area thus far, but also increased attention to the sources of influence on children’s thinking. Drawing on the constructivist perspective of the SRD model, we suggest that future studies investigate the joint and separate roles of interacting with diverse peers, interpreting conversations’ with parents and teachers, and reflecting on societal structures on children’s and adolescents’ reasoning, judgments, and behaviors in contexts of social inequality. Continued investigation of how children recognize, explain, and respond to social inequalities may provide a basis for ameliorating their detrimental outcomes and fostering a more just society.

Acknowledgements

Melanie Killen was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, BCS1728918 and the National Institutes of Health, NICHDR01HD093698 while working on this paper.

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Guest Essay

We Don’t See What Climate Change Is Doing to Us

By R. Jisung Park

Dr. Park is an environmental and labor economist and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “Slow Burn: The Hidden Costs of a Warming World.”

Many of us realize climate change is a threat to our well-being. But what we have not yet grasped is that the devastation wreaked by climate change comes not just from headline-grabbing catastrophes but also from the subtler accumulation of innumerable slow and unequal burns that are already underway — the nearly invisible costs that may not raise the same alarm but that, in their pervasiveness and inequality, may be much more harmful than commonly realized. Recognizing these hidden costs will be essential as we prepare ourselves for the warming that we have ahead of us.

Responsibility for mitigating climate change on the local level lies in part with public institutions not only in encouraging emissions reductions but also in facilitating adaptation. Public discourse around climate change too often misses the central role that local institutions play in this latter function, how much of the realized pain locally depends on not simply the physical phenomena of climate change per se but also how they interact with human systems — economic, educational, legal and political.

Let’s start with heat, which is killing more people than most other natural disasters combined. Research shows that record-breaking heat waves are only part of the story. Instead, it may be the far more numerous unremarkably hot days that cause the bulk of societal destruction, including through their complex and often unnoticed effects on human health and productivity. In the United States, even moderately elevated temperatures — days in the 80s or 90s Fahrenheit — are responsible for just as many excess deaths as the record triple-digit heat waves, if not more, according to my calculations based on a recent analysis of Medicare records.

In some highly exposed and physically demanding industries, like mining, a day in the 90s can increase injury risk by over 65 percent relative to a day in the 60s. While some of these incidents involve clear cases of heat illness, my colleagues and I have found that a vast majority appear to come from ostensibly unrelated accidents, like construction workers falling off ladders and manufacturing workers mishandling hazardous machinery. In California, our research shows, heat might have routinely caused 20,000 workplace injuries per year, only a tiny fraction of which were officially recorded as heat-related.

A growing body of literature links temperature to cognitive performance and decision making. Research shows that hotter days lead to more mistakes, including among professional athletes ; more local crime ; and more violence in prisons , according to working papers. They also correspond with more use of profanity on social media , suggesting that even an incrementally hotter world is likely to be a nontrivially more irritable, error-prone and conflictual one.

Children are not immune. In research using over four million student test scores from New York City, I found that, from 1999 to 2011, students who took their high school Regents exams on a 90-degree day were 10 percent less likely to pass their subjects relative to a day in the 60s. In other research, my colleagues Joshua Goodman, Michael Hurwitz and Jonathan Smith and I found that across the country, hotter school years led to slower gains on standardized exams like the Preliminary SAT exams. It may not seem a huge effect, on average: roughly 1 percent of learning lost per one-degree-hotter school year temperatures. Probably hardly noticeable in any given year. But because these learning effects are cumulative, they may have significant consequences.

And that’s just heat. Researchers are bringing to light the more subtle yet cumulatively damaging effects of increased wildfires and other natural disasters. The hidden consequences of wildfire smoke may cut even deeper than the more visible death and destruction caused by the flames. Tallying the downstream economic and health costs of smoke exposure, researchers have estimated in a not-yet-published paper that increased wildfire smoke due to climate change may cause more than 20,000 additional deaths per year nationwide by 2050. Very few of these will be officially categorized as having been caused by wildfires, because they will have been the result of the cumulative influence of worsened air quality and weakened health over the course of many weeks and months. Research now suggests that wildfire smoke can adversely affect fetal health , student learning and workers’ earnings as well.

Since even noncatastrophic climate change may be more subtly damaging and inequality amplifying than we used to think, local interventions are essential to help us prepare for the warming that is to come.

At present, our social and economic systems are not well prepared to adjust to the accumulating damage wreaked by climate change, even though much of what determines whether climate change hurts us depends on the choices we make as individuals and as a society. Whether a hot day leads to mild discomfort or widespread mortality comes down to human decisions — individual decisions such as whether to install and operate air-conditioning and collective decisions around the pricing and availability of insurance, the allocation of hospital beds or the procedures and norms governing how and when people work.

Recent research indicates that how temperature affects human health depends greatly on the adaptations that happen to be at play locally. For instance, a day above 85 degrees in the coldest U.S. ZIP codes has nearly 10 times the effect on elderly mortality relative to in the warmest ZIP codes. In other words, a string of such days in a place like Seattle will lead to a much higher increase in the mortality rate than in a place like Houston, even though both places have similar income levels. In rural India , institutional factors like access to banking may affect how many lives are ultimately lost because of heat; heat can reduce crop yields, leaving subsistence farmers dependent on financing sources to keep them afloat.

In our research of heat and learning , we found that the adverse effects of a one-degree-hotter school year are two to three times as large for Black and Hispanic students, who are less likely to have working air-conditioning at school or at home even within a given city, and are virtually nonexistent in schools and neighborhoods with high levels of home and school air-conditioning. We estimate that hotter temperatures may already be responsible for 5 percent of racial academic achievement gaps. Without remedial investments, climate change is likely to widen these gaps. With a shift in focus to these subtler social costs, we can devise and carry out more effective strategies. But right now, adaptation efforts remain highly fragmented and are often focused on more visibly salient climate hazards, like storm surges .

And, of course, an empirically nuanced understanding of climate damages makes it even clearer that reducing emissions aggressively makes cost-benefit sense not only because we want to insure against total ecological breakdown (cue “extinction rebellion” and “tipping points”) but also because the economic costs of even noncatastrophic warming may be considerable. Recent Environmental Protection Agency estimates that incorporate just some of these cumulative impacts suggest that a single ton of carbon dioxide sets in motion $190 worth of future social costs, which means that technologies that can reduce such emissions at a lower per-ton cost are most likely worth pursuing.

Climate change is a complex phenomenon whose ultimate costs will depend not only on how quickly we transition away from fossil fuels but also on how well we adapt our social and economic systems to the warming we have in store. A proactive stance toward adaptation and resilience may be useful from the standpoint of safeguarding one’s own physical and financial security, whether as a homeowner or the head of a Fortune 500 company. It may be vital for ensuring that the ladders of economic opportunity are not deteriorating for those attempting to climb its lower rungs.

R. Jisung Park is an environmental and labor economist and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “Slow Burn: The Hidden Costs of a Warming World.”

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