Question

2. How does inequality form across generations? Which countries experience the greatest degree of intergenerational inequality? The least?

Answer 1

Inequality is described as the difference between the rich and poor in terms of the income levels they earn, the access to resources which they have and their overall capability to survive and do good for one another.

Over the years, even though inequality has decreased globally, it is yet a pressing problem which needs to be eradicated as much as possible.

Inequality takes place in a cycle which then extends down to generation and can be explained as follows. As people have lesser income and lesser access to resources, their overall productivity remains low. They cannot avail modern education and are forced to work at an early age at meagre wages. This makes them vulnerable to price rise or recession and they risk losing their jobs or source of income the most. As their access remains low, they are able to provide lesser to the coming generations also which in turn also fall in the same trap as described. Thus, poverty and inequality go down for generations unless there is expenditure on healthcare, nutrition or education for these sections of the society.

Countries which are developed such as United States, United Kingdom etc have made continuous efforts to make availability of critical factors such as education, health care, nutrition etc without any discrimination between the rich and poor, and this continuous effort is what has help them in eradicating these problems. On the contrary countries in Asia such as India, Pakistan etc are all lacking and do not have sufficient resources to be able to provide for these groups of people and thus the income inequality in these countries is high with over 70 % income being held by the rich and elite while the majority population suffering for generations.

Please feel free to ask your doubts in the comments section if any.