Essay On Income Inequality

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Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed unevenly among a population. Another way of looking at income inequality is to compare the ratio of incomes of the top 20 per cent and bottom 20 per cent of income earners. It is a knotty global issue that has affected countries, societies and down to individuals. Income inequality is the aftermath of world phenomenon like globalisation and technology advancement, and also domestic issues regarding family structure and social class. According to economists around the world, this huge disparity has cause several issues like the lack of educational access, low living standards, increased crime rates and high mortality rate. The purpose of this research is to evaluate…show more content…
Meanwhile, the bottom 3 countries are Namibia (63.9), Comoros (64.3) and Seychelles (65.8). Degree of income inequality is lower in developed countries, especially Europe, as they have strong income redistribution policies through the tax and benefit systems. However the developing countries are opposite from them clustered in southern Africa and Latin America. The issue of income inequality has been placed under the limelight in recent years in Singapore. And there is a good reason for this – Singapore’s income gap, as measured by the Gini index for income, is one of the widest among developed countries at 47.8. Even with an average economic growth rate of more than 6 per cent over the last decade, the high index has brought concerns that the economic pie is not being allocated fairly among Singaporeans. This in turn has an effect on education opportunities, social mobility and social cohesion, just to name a few. Income inequality is a rising issue in many countries around the world, but why does it seem to be rising at a faster pace in Singapore? Economists have concluded it being a merger of global trends and domestic
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