Effects Of Economic Inequality

Equality and its Aftermath
What is equality? What do we achieve with equality? Equality defines a state of equal rights, opportunities and status. With our present economic system equality can never be achieved, there will always be suppression and preferences towards different individuals. Inequality keeps rising, cost of living keep rising, and opportunities keep slipping away; will economic equality solve this issues?
Economic inequality has been present since the beginning of civilizations, poor people serving for the rich and the rich getting most and in some cases all of the benefits. One very debatable conflict is if there is a need to stop economic inequality and the answer is absolutely. The United States has been hit by several economic

” In the three years following the end of the Great Recession, the typical American family’s income declined 5 percent, its wealth fell 2 percent, it saved no more for retirement, and it was saddled with even more student debt” (Casselman). The recession struck the nation’s economy and the lower classes causing a downfall in the median income going from around $53k to $45k. The cost of living drove the opposite way and increased after this recent recession. After this recession the earning gap between the wealthiest sector and the others has risen, with the higher class earning nearly five times more than the typical American family. “The middle-class incomes have stayed neutral or have been declining while the wealthier classes have been getting richer. In fact, in 1988, the average American taxpayer was earning around $33,400. In 2008, that average had fallen to $33,000. The richest 1% of Americans, on the

In order to advance into a higher economic class an individual has to gain influences in their school or work place, but unlikely an individual might not get this chance since their parents do not have the necessary connections someone in the upper class would have. “At the top of the income classes is the upper class, also known as the 1% or as the 5% because this class makes up about 1-to-5% of the entire American population” (Alhanati). The upper class families consists of two types: the ones that worked for a couple of generations to achieve a higher position and the ones that inherited their riches. “Households with old money are those that have had wealth in their family for at least two generations (sometimes many more), and haven 't had to necessarily work for an income. On the other hand, households with new money consist of households who have had wealth in their family for only one or two generations, and instead of inheriting their riches they worked hard to earn their wealth (Alhanati). The middle class has to create opportunities in order for future generations of that family to reach new levels of wealth, while the lower classes might not even have the opportunity to reach the middle class.
Although some argue that there is not any economic inequality, there is even after several attempts made by the United States government to reach economic equality, it has yet to see satisfactory