LYDIA

Distribution of income and wealth

I had very little knowledge of the significant gap between higher earners and lower earners, and that there was such a large inequality. The fact that the poorest fifth of society have only 8% of total income, whereas the top fifth have 40% of income, in my opinion its shocking. I also now have a much better Since looking more into this, I have a much better understanding of the distribution of income.

Also when I thought of inequality and poverty I thought of poorer countries like Africa. I hadn’t realised that countries like the U.K. had such high levels of inequality (the uk had the highest inequality in the EU). I think this belief was due to the fact that more of our country are in employment and have an education. For example people in poverty with high school degrees , incomes of them are falling asit it’s pushing salaries down. This is because of aspects like their is higher supply here and that the price of labour can be low.

Clearly when looking at the costs and benefits of an equal and unequal distribution of income it appears better to have an equal distribution. This is because it will lead to more social , economic and health benefits even if people do not like things like the taxes and the redistribution of income to poorer individuals.

Poverty

I believe that we should do every thing we can to try and reduce inequality and poverty. This is because if people are in absolute poverty then they don’t even have enough income to afford basic human needs. As humans I think we should all get an equal income no matter the job as long as they’re working the same amount of hours. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy the wealth that the world has to offer

In terms of which type of measure is more appropriate I think it depends on the situation . In richer developing economies I think relative is more appropriate as they need more things like technology to be Orr of the society. However in poorer countries absolute poverty appears to be better as Its necessary to help them get their basic needs for ethical purposes.

Although I do find relative poverty an odd measure as just because they don’t have enough income to buy more luxurious goods doesn’t necessary in my opinion count as being in poverty. I believe absolute poverty is the better measure even if its harder to calculate as I think not having basic needs is more significant.

 

Government intervention

In my opinion the best way to reduce poverty and inequality is a minimum wage and investment in training. This because these types of intervention have a wider scope than say subsidies for childcare which only some of the population would find useful. Also these methods help increase pay which I think is necessary as its derogatory to put a worth on some peoples time as so little. Although there will always be the law of unintended consequences to government intervention, it still appears to be a necessary risk the government should take to achieve equity. Its our duty to provide foreign aid even if there is a possibility that it could lead to corruption. This is something I would like to research further so I can understand the effectiveness better and the adverse consequences it could possibly lead to .

 

 

 

Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord. – Proverbs 20:10