INEQUALITY IN SOCIETY

AND ITS CAUSES

SOCIAL INEQUALITY - MEANING
•Social inequality refers to a lack of social
equality, where individuals in a society do not
have equal social status.

•Social inequality is the existence of unequal

opportunities and rewards for different social
positions or statuses within a group or society.
Inequality in schooling

• Inequality occurs when there are clear boundaries in society that

prevent from attaining equal status despite their work and effort
towards attaining such goals.

• Inequality continues because the dominant global ideology.

• By educational inequality we mean a system under which all sections
of society are not given equal educational opportunities.

• The various reasons for educational inequality are –absence of

natioanl system of education, regional imbalances, poverty of parents
etc.
Meaning of ‘Social Inequality’

• Social inequality denotes the disparities found among the people on the
basis of caste and religion, language, race, gender, political power or
economical level in all sections of the society are not able to share
equally the social resources and the facilities and services available in
the society.

• Social disparities prevailing in the society are otherwise known as ‘Social

Inequality’
Definition

• The term ‘Social Inequality’ or ‘Social Disparity’ means people are

being fixed in different social strata of society on the basis of gender,
age, race and economic status.
Causes for Social Inequality
Causes for Social Inequality

• Winsconsin University of U.S.A. has found in its research study that

‘Poverty and Inequality are inter-twined’. Not only India but all over
the world social inequality is found in from or other

• Sociologists says there are two bases for inequality

i. Ascribed Social Status

ii. Achieved Status

i. Ascribed Social Status: assigned by others at birth and not earned
by an individual.

ii. Achieved Status: achieved through one’s abilities and talents, hard
work and self efforts
1. Racial Discrimination
• On the basis of physical appearance and features

• Anthropologists(some one who scientifically studies humans and their customs) have
classified human beings into five major groups

i. Caucasian- While skinned Europeans, West Asians, Australians

ii. Mongolian – Yellow skinned Asians with narrow eyes and short noses

iii. Negros –Black African

iv. Red Indian – aborigines (Natives) of the North and South America

v. Esquimaux – Natives of the Arctic region

2. Caste

• In India , the caste system was in vogue even before the period of Lord
Buddha. During later part of Vedic period, the Varnasrama Dharmam
founded four major categories of people in the society

• Brahmana, Kshatria ,Vysya and sudra

• Caste system of India was initially flexible but later very rigid

• For the disparity and inequality in Indian society, the caste system is
responsible either directly or indirectly.
3.Religion

• In the society has religious minority community

• These kinds of religious minorities will be suppressed by the dominant

majority group.

• Such minority groups may not get equal rights and opportunities in
the government.
4. Economic Status

• People are classified into many categories such as high income,

middle income and low income groups.

• The disparity among the social groups is widening as the price of

essential commodities and people’s needs are increasing constantly
5.Occupations

• Some people whoa re doing dirty jobs like scavenging, butchering,

disposing of dead etc. are permanently kept at the lowest level of the
society.

• Technology applied the dirty jobs and modern sanitary methods are
used, gain social respect.
6. People’s Attitude

• Who are well versed in English, whoa re in government service and

who are employed abroad most respected in Indian society

• Preferred marriage market

7.Manual Labour and White collar Job

• Jobs which involve more manual labour get less remuneration and
low respect

• Technical knowledge get more remuneration and respect

8. Unemployment or having a poor quality

Job as this limits access to a decent income and cuts

people off from social networks

9.Low levels of education and skills because this

limits people’s ability to access decent jobs to develop
themselves and participate fully in society
10.The size and type of family i.e. large families and lone parent families
tend to be at greater risk of poverty because they have higher costs, lower
incomes and more difficulty in gaining well paid employment

11. Gender

Women are generally at higher risk of poverty than men as they are less
likely to be in paid employment, tend to have lower pensions, are more
involved in unpaid caring responsibilities and when they are in work, are
frequently paid less even for the same job ;
12. Disability or ill-health because this limits ability to access
employment and also leads to increased day to day costs;

13. Being a member of minority groups

As they suffer particularly from discrimination and racism and thus

have less chance to access employment, often are forced to live in
worse physical environments and have poorer access to essential
services;
14. Living in a remote or very disadvantaged
community where access to services is worse. In poorer
places there is generally less employment, a poorer diet
and a lack of facilities.
15. Dwelling
People living in slums, those living in huts, single
room shed or rented houses are socially less respected than
living in independent houses and using luxury goods.
 Effects of inequality
• Health

If people are not healthy they will not work to their full productive
capacity. Ascertaining whether inequality is a direct cause of ill health is
difficult. On balance, the research seem to indicate that inequality causes
poor health.
• Education

If children are less successful at school, they are less likely to become
highly skilled workers. Their productive capacity, and therefore the
productive capacity of the economy, is diminished.
• Economic growth

A more equal wage distribution encourages specialization in higher value-

adding industries, while low wage, low value-adding industries cannot compete.
Thus inequality may have a generally slowing effect on economic growth.

• Economic stability

A number of economists have argued that inequality leads to economic

instability. One mechanism by which this happens is that the rich consume a
smaller proportion of their income than the poor. They save money which
people on lower incomes would spend.