SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities Action Plan: Kaycee Mher Bonifacio Jerald Gadnao Jeremy Ortega
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities Action Plan: Kaycee Mher Bonifacio Jerald Gadnao Jeremy Ortega
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities Action Plan: Kaycee Mher Bonifacio Jerald Gadnao Jeremy Ortega
College of Education
Bachelor of Technology and Livelihood Education
ACTION PLAN
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JERALD GADNAO
JEREMY ORTEGA
MAY 2019
I : INTRODUCTION AND DICUSSION
Income inequality is on the rise—the richest 10 percent have up to 40 percent of global income
whereas the poorest 10 percent earn only between 2 to 7 percent. If we take into account
Income inequality has increased in nearly everywhere in recent decades, but at different speeds.
It’s lowest in Europe and highest in the Middle East. These widening disparities require sound
policies to empower lower income earners, and promote economic inclusion of all regardless of
sex, race or ethnicity. Income inequality requires global solutions. This involves improving the
assistance and foreign direct investment to regions where the need is greatest. Facilitating the
safe migration and mobility of people is also key to bridging the widening divide.
22% -In 2016, 22 percent of global income was received by the top 1 percent compared with 10
16%
In 1980, the top one percent had 16 percent of global income. The bottom 50 percent had 8
percent of income.
33%
Economic inequality is largely driven by the unequal ownership of capital. Since 1980, very
large transfers of public to private wealth occurred in nearly all countries. The global wealth
39%
Under "business as usual", the top 1 percent global wealth will reach 39 percent by 2050.
2x
60%
Women have as much access to financial services as men in just 60 percent of the countries
Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly,
typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially
defined categories of persons. It is the differentiation preference of access of social goods in the
society brought about by power, religion, kinship, prestige, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual
orientation, and class. The social rights include labor market, the source of income, health care,
linked to economic inequality, usually described on the basis of the unequal distribution of
income or wealth, is a frequently studied type of social inequality. Though the disciplines of
economics and sociology generally use different theoretical approaches to examine and explain
economic inequality, both fields are actively involved in researching this inequality. However,
social and natural resources other than purely economic resources are also unevenly distributed
in most societies and may contribute to social status. Norms of allocation can also affect the
distribution of rights and privileges, social power, access to public goods such as education or the
judicial system, adequate housing, transportation, credit and financial services such as banking
distribute resources on the basis of merit. The term "meritocracy" was coined by Michael Young
in his 1958 dystopian essay "The Rise of the Meritocracy" to demonstrate the social dysfunctions
that he anticipated arising in societies where the elites believe that they are successful entirely on
the basis of merit, so the adoption of this term into English without negative connotations is
ironic; Young was concerned that the Tripartite System of education being practiced in the
United Kingdom at the time he wrote the essay considered merit to be "intelligence-plus-effort,
its possessors ... identified at an early age and selected for appropriate intensive education" and
that the "obsession with quantification, test-scoring, and qualifications" it supported would create
an educated middle-class elite at the expense of the education of the working class, inevitably
Although merit matters to some degree in many societies, research shows that the distribution of
resources in societies often follows hierarchical social categorizations of persons to a degree too
significant to warrant calling these societies "meritocratic", since even exceptional intelligence,
talent, or other forms of merit may not be compensatory for the social disadvantages people face.
In many cases, social inequality is linked to racial inequality, ethnic inequality, and gender
inequality, as well as other social statuses and these forms can be related to corruption. The most
common metric for comparing social inequality in different nations is the Gini coefficient, which
measures the concentration of wealth and income in a nation from 0 (evenly distributed wealth
and income) to 1 (one person has all wealth and income). Two nations may have identical Gini
coefficients but dramatically different economic (output) and/or quality of life, so the Gini
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an
individual's or family's economic and social position in relation to others, based on income,
education, and occupation. It is often used as synonymous with social class, a set of hierarchical
social categories that indicate an individual's or household's relative position in a stratified matrix
of social relationships. Social class is delineated by a number of variables, some of which change
across time and place. For Karl Marx, there exist two major social classes with significant
inequality between the two. The two are delineated by their relationship to the means of
production in a given society. Those two classes are defined as the owners of the means of
production and those who sell their labour to the owners of the means of production. In
capitalistic societies, the two classifications represent the opposing social interests of its
members, capital gain for the capitalists and good wages for the labourers, creating social
conflict.
Max Weber uses social classes to examine wealth and status. For him, social class is strongly
associated with prestige and privileges. It may explain social reproduction, the tendency of social
classes to remain stable across generations maintaining most of their inequalities as well. Such
inequalities include differences in income, wealth, access to education, pension levels, social
status, socioeconomic safety-net.[18] In general, social class can be defined as a large category
of similarly ranked people located in a hierarchy and distinguished from other large categories in
In modern Western societies, inequalities are often broadly classified into three major divisions
of social class: upper class, middle class, and lower class. Each of these classes can be further
subdivided into smaller classes (e.g. "upper middle").Members of different classes have varied
access to financial resources, which affects their placement in the social stratification system.
Class, race, and gender are forms of stratification that bring inequality and determines the
class since it affects their lifestyle, opportunities, culture, and kind of people one associates with.
Class based families include the lower class who are the poor in the society. They have limited
opportunities. Working class are those people in blue-collar jobs and usually, affects the
economic level of a nation. The Middle classes are those who rely mostly on wives' employment
and depends on credits from the bank and medical coverage. The upper middle class are
professionals who are strong because of economic resources and supportive institutions.
Additionally, the upper class usually are the wealthy families who have economic power due to
accumulative wealth from families but not and not hard earned income.
Social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of society about social class, wealth, political
influence. A society can be politically stratified based on authority and power, economically
stratified based on income level and wealth, occupational stratification about one's occupation.
Some roles for examples doctors, engineers, lawyers are highly ranked, and thus they give orders
while the rest receive the orders. There are three systems of social stratification which are the
caste system, estates system, and class system. Castes system usually ascribed to children during
birth whereby one receives the same stratification as of that of their parents. The caste system has
been linked to religion and thus permanent. The stratification may be superior or inferior and
thus influences the occupation and the social roles assigned to a person. Estate system is a state
or society where people in this state were required to work on their land to receive some services
like military protection. Communities ranked according to the nobility of their lords. The class
system is about income inequality and socio-political status. People can move the classes when
they increase their level of income or if they have authority. People are expected to maximize
their innate abilities and possessions. Social stratification characteristics include its universal,
The quantitative variables most often used as an indicator of social inequality are income and
tells us more about variation in well-being than does income, alone. Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), especially per capita GDP, is sometimes used to describe economic inequality at the
international or global level. A better measure at that level, however, is the Gini coefficient, a
measure of statistical dispersion used to represent the distribution of a specific quantity, such as
income or wealth, at a global level, among a nation's residents, or even within a metropolitan
area. Other widely used measures of economic inequality are the percentage of people living
with under US$1.25 or $2 a day and the share of national income held by the wealthiest 10% of
1) Gender inequality acknowledges that men and women are not equal and
that gender affects an individual's lived experience. These differences arise from
distinctions in biology, psychology, and cultural norms. Some of these distinctions are
empirically grounded while others appear to be socially constructed. Studies show the
different lived experience of genders across many domains including education, life
expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliations. Gender
Across the board, a number of industries are stratified across the genders. This is the
result of a variety of factors. These include differences in education choices, preferred job
and industry, work experience, number of hours worked, and breaks in employment (such
as for bearing and raising children). Men also typically go into higher paid and higher
risk jobs when compared to women. These factors result in 60% to 75% difference
between men's and women's average aggregate wages or salaries, depending on the
source. Various explanations for the remaining 25% to 40% have been suggested,
including women's lower willingness and ability to negotiate salary and sexual
In the United States, the average female's unadjusted annual salary has been cited as 78%
of that of the average male. However, multiple studies from OECD, AAUW, and the US
Department of Labor have found that pay rates between males and females varied by 5–
6.6% or, females earning 94 cents to every dollar earned by their male counterparts, when
wages were adjusted to different individual choices made by male and female workers in
college major, occupation, working hours, and maternal/parental leave. The remaining
6% of the gap has been speculated to originate from deficiency in salary negotiating skills
Human capital theories refer to the education, knowledge, training, experience, or skill of
a person which makes them potentially valuable to an employer. This has historically
been understood as a cause of the gendered wage gap but is no longer a predominant
cause as women and men in certain occupations tend to have similar education levels or
other credentials. Even when such characteristics of jobs and workers are controlled for,
the presence of women within a certain occupation leads to lower wages. This earnings
jobs which are predominated by women offer lower wages than do jobs simply because
of the presence of women within the occupation. As women enter an occupation, this
reduces the amount of prestige associated with the job and men subsequently leave these
occupations. The entering of women into specific occupations suggests that less
competent workers have begun to be hired or that the occupation is becoming deskilled.
Men are reluctant to enter female-dominated occupations because of this and similarly
The gendered income disparity can also be attributed in part to occupational segregation,
thought to possess different physical, emotional, and mental capabilities. These different
capabilities make the genders vary in the types of jobs they are suited for. This can be
specifically viewed with the gendered division between manual and non-manual
labor. With vertical segregation, occupational sex segregation occurs as occupations are
stratified according to the power, authority, income, and prestige associated with the
As women entered the workforce in larger numbers since the 1960s, occupations have
associated with each occupation. Census data suggests that while some occupations have
become more gender integrated (mail carriers, bartenders, bus drivers, and real estate
agents), occupations including teachers, nurses, secretaries, and librarians have become
airplane pilots remain predominately male in composition. Based on the census data,
women occupy the service sector jobs at higher rates than men. Women’s
overrepresentation in service sector jobs, as opposed to jobs that require managerial work
acts as a reinforcement of women and men into traditional gender roles that causes
gender inequality.
Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by sex, race, and ethnicity,
U.S., 2009.
“The gender wage gap is an indicator of women’s earnings compared with men’s. It is
figured by dividing the average annual earnings for women by the average annual
earnings for men.” (Higgins et al., 2014) Scholars disagree about how much of the male-
female wage gap depends on factors such as experience, education, occupation, and other
unexplained,] while CONSAD analysts found that these factors explain between 65.1 and
76.4 percent of the raw wage gap. CONSAD also noted that other factors such as benefits
and overtime explain "additional portions of the raw gender wage gap".
The glass ceiling effect is also considered a possible contributor to the gender wage gap
or income disparity. This effect suggests that gender provides significant disadvantages
towards the top of job hierarchies which become worse as a person’s career goes on. The
term glass ceiling implies that invisible or artificial barriers exist which prevent women
from advancing within their jobs or receiving promotions. These barriers exist in spite of
the achievements or qualifications of the women and still exist when other characteristics
that are job-relevant such as experience, education, and abilities are controlled for. The
inequality effects of the glass ceiling are more prevalent within higher-powered or higher
income occupations, with fewer women holding these types of occupations. The glass
ceiling effect also indicates the limited chances of women for income raises and
prevented by these artificial barriers, from either receiving job promotions or income
raises, the effects of the inequality of the glass ceiling increase over the course of a
woman’s career.
employers to deny women access to certain occupational tracks because women are more
likely than men to leave their job or the labor force when they become married or
pregnant. Women are instead given positions that dead-end or jobs that have very little
mobility.
In Third World countries such as the Dominican Republic, female entrepreneurs are
statistically more prone to failure in business. In the event of a business failure women
often return to their domestic lifestyle despite the absence of income. On the other hand,
men tend to search for other employment as the household is not a priority.
The gender earnings ratio suggests that there has been an increase in women’s earnings
comparative to men. Men’s plateau in earnings began after the 1970s, allowing for the
increase in women’s wages to close the ratio between incomes. Despite the smaller ratio
between men and women’s wages, disparity still exists. Census data suggests that
have the greatest wage gap between the genders. With whites, women earn 78% of the
wages that white men do. With African Americans, women earn 90% of the wages that
There are some exceptions where women earn more than men: According to a survey on
gender pay inequality by the International Trade Union Confederation, female workers in
the Gulf state of Bahrain earn 40 percent more than male workers.
In 2014, a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) reveals the wage gap
between Cambodian women factory workers and other male counterparts. There was a
$25 USD monthly pay difference conveying that women have a much lower power and
The gender gap also appeared to narrow considerably beginning in the mid-1960s. Where
this number had jumped to 40% in law and medicine, and over 30% in dentistry and
business school.] Before the highly effective birth control pill was available, women
pregnancy." This control over their reproductive decisions allowed women to more easily
make long-term decisions about their education and professional opportunities. Women
are highly underrepresented on boards of directors and in senior positions in the private
sector.
Additionally, with reliable birth control, young men and women had more reason to delay
marriage. This meant that the marriage market available to any women who "delay[ed]
marriage to pursue a career... would not be as depleted. Thus the Pill could have
influenced women's careers, college majors, professional degrees, and the age at
marriage."
Studies on sexism in science and technology fields have produced conflicting results.
Corinne et al. found that science faculty of both sexes rated a male applicant as
significantly more competent and hireable than an identical female applicant. These
participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to
the male applicant. Williams and Ceci, however, found that science and technology
faculty of both sexes "preferred female applicants 2:1 over identically qualified males
with matching lifestyles" for tenure-track positions. Studies show parents are more likely
to expect their sons, rather than their daughters, to work in a science, technology,
engineering or mathematics field – even when their 15-year-old boys and girls perform at
the same level in mathematics.[47] There are more men than women trained as dentists,
A survey by the U.K. Office for National Statistics in 2016 showed that in the health
sector 56% of roles are held by women, while in teaching it is 68%.However equality is
less evident in other area; only 30% of M.P.'s are women and only 32% of finance and
investment analysts. In the natural and social sciences 43% of employees are women, and
viewed videos featuring a black male, a white female, or a white male actor playing the
role of an employee helping a customer, were 19 percent more satisfied with the white
This discrepancy with race can be found as early as 1947, when Kenneth Clark conducted
as tudy in which black children were asked to choose between white and black dolls.
White male dolls were the ones children preferred to play with.
Although the disparities between men and women are decreasing in the medical
field,] gender inequalities still exist as social problems. From 1999 to 2008, recently
qualified female doctors in the US made almost $170,000,000 less than their male
counterparts. The pay discrepancy could not be explained by specialty choice, practice
setting, work hours, or other characteristics. A case study carried out on Swedish medical
doctors showed that the gender wage gap among physicians was greater in 2007 than in
1975.
At home
Gender roles are heavily influenced by biology, with male-female play styles correlating
with sex hormones, sexual orientation, aggressive traits, and pain. Furthermore, females
with congenital adrenal hyperplasia demonstrate increased masculinity and it has been
shown that rhesus macaque children exhibit preferences for stereotypically male and
female toys.
Gender inequality in relationships
Gender equality in relationships has been growing over the years but for the majority of
relationships, the power lies with the male. ] Even now men and women present
themselves as divided along gender lines. A study done by Szymanowicz and Furnham,
looked at the cultural stereotypes of intelligence in men and women, showing the gender
inequality in self-presentation. This study showed that females thought if they revealed
their intelligence to a potential partner, then it would diminish their chance with him.
Men however would much more readily discuss their own intelligence with a potential
partner. Also, women are aware of people’s negative reactions to IQ, so they limit its
disclosure to only trusted friends. Females would disclose IQ more often than men with
the expectation that a real true friend would respond in a positive way. Intelligence
continues to be viewed as a more masculine trait, than feminine trait. The article
suggested that men might think women with a high IQ would lack traits that were
discovery was that females thought that friends should be told about one’s IQ more so
than males. However, males expressed doubts about the test’s reliability and the
importance of IQ in real life more so than women. The inequality is highlighted when a
couple starts to decide who is in charge of family issues and who is primarily responsible
for earning income. For example, in Londa Schiebinger’s book, "Has Feminism Changed
Science?", she claims that "Married men with families on average earn more money, live
longer and happier, and progress faster in their careers," while "for a working woman, a
family is a liability, extra baggage threatening to drag down her career." Furthermore,
statistics had shown that "only 17 percent of the women who are full professors of
Despite the increase in women in the labour force since the mid-1900s, traditional gender
roles are still prevalent in American society. Women may be expected to put their
educational and career goals on hold in order to raise children, while their husbands
work. However, women who choose to work as well as fulfill a perceived gender role of
cleaning the house and taking care of the children. Despite the fact that different
households may divide chores more evenly, there is evidence that supports that women
have retained the primary caregiver role within familial life despite contributions
economically. This evidence suggest that women who work outside the home often put an
extra 18 hours a week doing household or childcare related chores as opposed to men
who average 12 minutes a day in childcare activities. One study by van Hooff showed
that modern couples, do not necessarily purposefully divide things like household chores
along gender lines, but instead may rationalize it and make excuses. One excuse used is
that women are more competent at household chores and have more motivation to do
them. Another is that some say the demands of the males’ jobs is higher.
There was a study conducted at an "urban comprehensive school". They were asked
questions regarding their views in sexual inequality. Many parents were for the equal pay
for men and women. They also were in favor for men to help with the housework. In this
study, the majority of the people who were interviewed wanted gender equality and more
people wants a change in gender roles. Where men stay home, cleans, and cooks while
that in 1920-1966, there was data recorded that women spent the most time care-tending
with the home and family. There was a study made with the gender roles with the males
and females, The results showed that as women spend less time in the house, men have
taken over the role as the mother. The article also said that women who work spend less
time within the house and with their children if they have any. Furthermore, men are
taking the roles of women in the homes and its changing as time goes on. Robin A.
Douthitt, the author of the article, "The Division of Labor Within the Home: Have
Gender Roles Changed?" concluded by saying, "(1) men do not spend significnatly more
time with chil- dren when their wives are employed and (2) employed women spend
signifi- cantly less time in child care than their full-time homemaker counterparts, over a
10-year period both mothers and fathers are spending more total time with children."
(703).[
One survey showed that men rate their technological skills in activities such as basic
However, it should be noted that this study was a self-reporting study, where men
evaluate themselves on their own perceived capabilities. It thus is not data based on
actual ability, but merely perceived ability, as participants' ability was not assessed.
Additionally, this study is inevitably subject to the significant bias associated with self-
reported data.
In contrary to such findings, a carefully controlled study that analyzed data sets from 25
developing countries led to the consistent finding that the reason why fewer women
access and use digital technology is a direct result of their unfavorable conditions and
ongoing discrimination with respect to employment, education and income. [73] When
controlling for these variables, women turn out to be more active users of digital tools
than men. This turns the alleged digital gender divide into an opportunity: given women's
affinity for ICT, and given that digital technologies are tools that can improve living
Property inheritance
Many countries have laws that give less inheritance of ancestral property for women
compared to men.
Structural marginalization
Gender inequalities often stem from social structures that have institutionalized
Marginalization occurs on an individual level when someone feels as if they are on the
fringes or margins of their respective society. This is a social process and displays how
current policies in place can affect people. For example, media advertisements display
young girls with easy bake ovens (promoting being a housewife) as well as with dolls
that they can feed and change the diaper of (promoting being a mother).
Gender stereotypes
Cultural stereotypes, which can dictate specific roles, are engrained in both men and
women and these stereotypes are a possible explanation for gender inequality and the
resulting gendered wage disparity. Women have traditionally been viewed as being caring
and nurturing and are designated to occupations which require such skills While these
skills are culturally valued, they were typically associated with domesticity, so
occupations requiring these same skills are not economically valued. Men have
traditionally been viewed as the main worker in the home, so jobs held by men have been
gender influence how people determine their roles, appearance, behaviors, etc. When
expectations of gender roles deeply rooted in people's mind, people' values and ideas
started to be influenced and leading to situation of stereotypes, which actualize their ideas
into actions and perform different standards labelling the behaviors of people. Gender
were standardizing according to their gender-at-birth, that women and men may
encounter limitations and difficulties when challenging the society through performing
behaviors that their gender "not supposed" to perform. For example, men may receive
judgments when they trying to stay at home and finish housework and allow their wives
to go out and work instead, as men are expected to be work outside for earning money for
the family. The traditional concepts of gender stereotypes are being challenged nowadays
in different societies and improvement could be observed that men could also be
responsible for housework, women could also be construction worker in some societies.
It is still a long process when traditional concepts and values have deep-rooted in people's
mind, that higher acceptance towards gender roles and characteristics is homely to be
gradually developed.
Bonnie Spanier coined the term hereditary inequality. Her opinion is that some scientific
publications depict human fertilization such that sperms seem to actively compete for the
"passive" egg, even though in reality it is complicated (e.g. the egg has specific active
of sexism. Discrimination takes place in this manner as men and women are subject to
prejudicial treatment on the basis of gender alone. Sexism occurs when men and women
Discrimination also plays out with networking and in preferential treatment within the
economic market. Men typically occupy positions of power within the job economy. Due
to taste or preference for other men because they share similar characteristics, men in
Racial or ethnic inequality is the result of hierarchical social distinctions between racial
and ethnic categories within a society and often established based on characteristics such
culture. Racism is whereby some races are more privileged and are allowed to venture
into the labor market and are better compensated than others. Ethnicity is the privilege
one enjoys for belonging to a particular ethnic group. Even though race has no biological
connection, it has become a socially constructed category capable of restricting or
Racial inequality can also result in diminished opportunities for members of marginalized
groups, which in turn can lead to cycles of poverty and political marginalization. Racial
and ethnic categories become a minority category in a society. Minority members in such
a society are often subjected to discriminatory actions resulting from majority policies,
during the run-up to the 2012 federal elections in the United States, legislation in certain
"battleground states" that claimed to target voter fraud had the effect of disenfranchising
barriers to full and equal social participation have far-reaching effects within
In the United States, Angela Davis argues that mass incarceration has been a modern tool
of the state to impose inequality, repression, and discrimination upon African American
and Hispanics. The War on Drugs has been a campaign with disparate effects, ensuring
America. Over a million African Americans are incarcerated in the US, many of whom
have been convicted of a non-violent drug possession charge.[citation needed] With the
States of Colorado and Washington having legalized the possession of marijuana, drug
reformists and anti-war on drugs lobbyists are hopeful that drug issues will be interpreted
and dealt with from a healthcare perspective instead of a matter of criminal law. In
Canada, Aboriginal, First Nations, and Indigenous persons represent over a quarter of the
federal prison population, even though they only represent 3% of the country's
population.power are more likely to hire or promote other men, thus discriminating
against women.
and ethnic categories within a society and often established based on characteristics such
culture. Racism is whereby some races are more privileged and are allowed to venture
into the labor market and are better compensated than others. Ethnicity is the privilege
one enjoys for belonging to a particular ethnic group. Even though race has no biological
enabling social status. Racial inequality can also result in diminished opportunities for
members of marginalized groups, which in turn can lead to cycles of poverty and political
and extermination. For example, during the run-up to the 2012 federal elections in the
United States, legislation in certain "battleground states" that claimed to target voter fraud
voters.These types of institutional barriers to full and equal social participation have far-
of the state to impose inequality, repression, and discrimination upon African American
and Hispanics. The War on Drugs has been a campaign with disparate effects, ensuring
America. Over a million African Americans are incarcerated in the US, many of whom
have been convicted of a non-violent drug possession charge.With the States of Colorado
and Washington having legalized the possession of marijuana, drug reformists and anti-
war on drugs lobbyists are hopeful that drug issues will be interpreted and dealt with
First Nations, and Indigenous persons represent over a quarter of the federal prison
3) Age inequality
Age discrimination is defined as the unfair treatment of people with regard to promotions,
recruitment, resources, or privileges because of their age. It is also known as ageism: the
stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups based upon their age. It
is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age-based prejudice,
discrimination against children and people under the legal adult age. An example of an
business to not allow those under the legal adult age to enter their premises after a certain
time or at all. While some people may benefit or enjoy these practices, some find them
offensive and discriminatory. Discrimination against those under the age of 40 however is
not illegal under the current U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). As
implied in the definitions above, treating people differently based upon their age is not
necessarily discrimination. Virtually every society has age-stratification, meaning that the
age structure in a society changes as people begin to live longer and the population
becomes older. In most cultures, there are different social role expectations for people of
different ages to perform. Every society manages people's ageing by allocating certain
roles for different age groups. Age discrimination primarily occurs when age is used as an
unfair criterion for allocating more or less resources. Scholars of age inequality have
suggested that certain social organizations favor particular age inequalities. For instance,
capitalist societies may dedicate disproportionate resources to training the young and
maintaining the middle-aged worker to the detriment of the elderly and the retired
the old to be relatively disadvantaged. However, more recently, in the United States the
tendency is for the young to be most disadvantaged. For example, poverty levels in the
U.S. have been decreasing among people aged 65 and older since the early 1970s
whereas the number of children under 18 in poverty has steadily risen. Sometimes, the
elderly have had the opportunity to build their wealth throughout their lives, while
younger people have the disadvantage of recently entering into or having not yet entered
into the economic sphere. The larger contributor to this, however, is the increase in the
number of people over 65 receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits in the U.S.
When we compare income distribution among youth across the globe, we find that about
half (48.5 percent) of the world's young people are confined to the bottom two income
brackets as of 2007. This means that, out of the three billion persons under the age of 24
in the world as of 2007, approximately 1.5 billion were living in situations in which they
and their families had access to just nine percent of global income. Moving up the income
distribution ladder, children and youth do not fare much better: more than two-thirds of
the world's youth have access to less than 20 percent of global wealth, with 86 percent of
all young people living on about one-third of world income. For the just over 400 million
youth who are fortunate enough to rank among families or situations at the top of the
income distribution, however, opportunities improve greatly with more than 60 percent of
often discussed primarily with regards to the work environment. Indeed, non-
participation in the labour force and the unequal access to rewarding jobs means that the
elderly and the young are often subject to unfair disadvantages because of their age. On
the one hand, the elderly are less likely to be involved in the workforce: At the same time,
old age may or may not put one at a disadvantage in accessing positions of prestige. Old
age may benefit one in such positions, but it may also disadvantage one because of
negative ageist stereotyping of old people. On the other hand, young people are often
recent entry to the work force or because they are still completing their education.
Typically, once they enter the labour force or take a part-time job while in school, they
start at entry level positions with low level wages. Furthermore, because of their lack of
prior work experience, they can also often be forced to take marginal jobs, where they
can be taken advantage of by their employers. As a result, many older people have to face
Food
There has been considerable research in recent years regarding a phenomenon known as
food deserts, in which low access to fresh, healthy food in a neighborhood leads to poor
consumer choices and options regarding diet. It is widely thought that food deserts are
significant contributors to the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States and many
other countries. This may have significant impacts on the local level as well as in broader
contexts, such as in Greece, where the childhood obesity rate has skyrocketed in recent
years heavily as a result of the rampant poverty and the resultant lack of access to fresh
foods.
II:ACTION PLAN TO REDUSE DIFFERENT INEQUALITIES
A. GENDER INEQULITIES
How To Stop Gender Inequality In The Workplace
Gender inequality in the workplace goes beyond low numbers of women in the C-
suite and boardroom. In fact, women’s disadvantage starts long before reaching
the executive level: “Corporate America promotes men at 30% higher rates than
women during their early career stages, and entry-level women are significantly
more likely than men to have spent five or more years in the same role.”
This disparity is slowly changing for the better, but not quickly enough. That’s
why companies today need to reevaluate their policies and processes relating to
inclusion and promote confidence in female employees.
Gender disparity can be harder to spot than you’d think, and it’s incredibly
pervasive. Are your managers unintentionally putting your female employees at a
disadvantage? Are you creating sufficient, open opportunities for both male and
female colleagues to aim for a promotion? Are your recruiting policies defined on
gender equality and providing transparency on ambitions for staff demographics?
1. Drive Skills Development Equally
There’s a false belief that men are advancing to higher pay grades and sustaining
the wage gap because they are more qualified. This is not the case. “Women are
hitting the glass ceiling earlier than people realize”, said Rachel Thomas,
president of LeanIn, a group founded by Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg.
“Men are off to the races and women are starting to see hurdles right out of the
gate.” In some cases, this disparity is the result of differing ambitions and
definitions of success. Women have been taught to strive for different things, and
until that changes, they may find themselves choosing career paths that are safer
and more secure. This does not make these roles less important. When you’re
investing in developing the skills of your team, don’t restrict it to the people who
you consider to be doing the “hardest” or “riskiest” jobs. That approach can
unintentionally widen the gender gap. Instead, offer employees at every level and
in every department an opportunity to improve. Investing in your employees
simply means developing their skills and doing it equally.
2. Create Role Models
In some organizations, women have few role models to look up to. They can lose
faith when they don’t see people like themselves advancing to leadership
positions. A 2017 study by Grant Thornton shows that globally, women hold an
average of 25% of senior management roles and only 12% of CEO roles. A push
for more women at the helm can have a trickle down effect that inspires other
women to aspire to the executive level. Take Susan Wojcicki, for example, the
CEO of YouTube. As a computer science graduate from Harvard and Google’s
16th employee, she earned her way up the tech ladder. Now, she runs one of the
world’s most innovative companies. Wojcicki has been at the forefront of
advocating for equality and inclusion at YouTube: “We’ve supported
underrepresented groups, established a C-level Leadership Diversity Council, and
ramped up our female hiring—since I joined in 2014, we’ve gone from a
company that is 24% women to one that’s nearly 30% .” Implementing mentoring
programs that show employees their worth and encourage them to strive for the
next step will lead to a stronger and more empowered team.
A fundamental reason we have not yet achieved gender equality in every realm is
that women and girls’ voices are too often excluded from global and national
would have been able to anticipate that girls would still be held responsible for many
home chores, caring for younger siblings and fetching water, and have known that a
major obstacle for girls’ education is that girls are at risk of physical and sexual
assaults when they have to walk long distances to school. Patricia T Morris, president,
The majority of girls in India don’t have access to using basic technology such as
reasons. Increasingly we see bans on girls using mobile phones. The dialogue on
girls’ access to Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths] education and
women’s role in technology has not even started to be acknowledged. Can girls and
women access equal resources, opportunities and rights without access to technology?
education. In Bangladesh more than 50% of girls are married before the age of 18,
and about 30% of girls 15 to 19 already have one child. If we want girls to be able to
complete education we have to end child marriage. We also have to seriously address
sexual harassment of girls. Insecurity is one of the reasons parents give for marrying
@UNWomenCHunter
There has been much progress in increasing access to education, but progress has
been slow in improving the gender sensitivity of the education system, including
ensuring textbooks promote positive stereotypes. This is critically important for girls
to come out of schools as citizens who can shape a more equal society. In some
countries, there is a tendency to assume that things are fine as long as there are equal
One of the key strategies must be to change how girls, families and society imagine
what girls can be and can do. We need to give girls images and role models that
expand their dreams. I was at an International Women’s Day event with Bangladesh
Women in Technology and they talked about needing to build girls’ and women’s
confidence that they could be engineers or entrepreneurs. We also need parents to see
that there really are opportunities for their daughters, that their only security is not
6. Empower mothers
In Afghanistan, there have been great moves to increase number of girls going
through formal education through providing schools for girls in every district. We
have learned that through empowering women on the community level you will also
enhance girls education. When mothers are educated and empowered to make choices
in their lives, they enable their daughters to go to school. Mandana Hendessi, country
director - Kurdistan region of Iraq and Afghanistan, Women for Women International,
The unpaid work women and girls do provide the foundation for the global economy.
This fact needs to be highlighted more in the media, with the private sector and in
communities. More research and data for messaging on this point could be useful in
promoting the key role and contributions women and girls make to the economy and
the need for proper recognition and compensation. We also need a concerted
campaign for equal pay for equal work worldwide. Legislation, economic incentives,
and pledges like the UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles should be adapted and
A proven way to overcome many systemic barriers to a woman’s success has been
empowered change agents. In just 10 years, the number of women holding seats in
houses of national parliament in south Asia rose from 7% to 18%. But a global goal
of equal representation is still a long way off, with only one woman for every four
men in parliamentary houses. A woman’s voice and her ability to become a leader in
change in their lives but also help break social taboos. Brac is skilling women in
schooling. This is a reverse of the global trend towards greater parity. Between 1999
and 2010, the ratio of girls in secondary school fell from 83 to 82 girls for every 100
boys at the secondary level and from 67 to 63 girls for every 100 boys at the tertiary
level. This is stalled progress and a reversion to the deep gender equalities that
characterised previous eras. To address this gap, our efforts cannot be done in silos,
but must involve the people (girls in this case). Girls know best what their challenges
are in education and it is imperative to involve them in our discussions to address the
gap. Njideka Harry, president & CEO, Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF),
Gender inequality allows for violence against women to continue unabated. The UN
has found that globally, one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime,
partner. The World Health Organisation, London School of Health and Tropical
Medicine, and the World Bank Group have done a lot to consolidate and expand on
what we know about the prevalence of violence against women, and effective
prevention and response strategies., but there is still a lot we do not know. Barbara
USA,
penalty. In education and in the workplace that backlash often takes the form of
we can see how that slows the pace of women’s entry to that sector or opportunity.
race-based barriers to opportunity. The most effective solutions will take on these
challenges together. That means, for example, job-training programs that prepare low-
enforcement that ensures equal access to those programs and the jobs to which they
workers to move out of poverty, but it must be combined with civil-rights efforts that
root out the racial exclusion that has sometimes infected union locals. And it means
citizenship with living wages and labor protections that root out exploitation and
college by increasing the share of need-based grants over student loans and better
coordinating private-sector scholarship aid -- for example, funds for federal Pell
Grants should be at least double current levels. But colleges should also retain the
flexibility to consider racial and socioeconomic background as two factors among
many, in order to promote a diverse student body (as well as diverse workers and
leaders once these students graduate). And Congress should pass the DREAM Act,
which would clear the path to a college degree and legal immigration status for many
undocumented students who've shown academic promise and the desire to contribute
to our country.
care for all is critical, and it must be combined with protections against poor quality
and unequal access that, research shows, affect people of color irrespective of their
insurance status. Finally, we must begin planning for opportunity in the way we
That means, for example, creating incentives for mixed-income neighborhoods that
are well-publicized and truly open to people of all races and backgrounds. A
when public funds are to be used for development projects. The statement would
explain, for example, whether a new highway will connect low-income communities
to good jobs and schools, or serve only affluent communities. It would detail where
and how job opportunities would flow from the project, and whether different
communities would share the burden of environmental and other effects (rather than
having the project reinforce traditional patterns of inequality). It would measure not
only a project's expected effect on poverty but on opportunity for all. When we think
about race and poverty in terms of the shared values and linked fate of our people, our
constituencies and identity groups, our task becomes one of moving forward together
as a diverse but cohesive society, addressing through unity the forces that have
C. AGE INEQUALITY
Recruiters, employers, consultants and successful age 50+ job seekers all
agree on what you can do to overcome or at least minimize the likelihood you will be
1. Dismiss Age Discrimination Thoughts - Flip that mental age discrimination switch
before any real questioning starts. Banish any thoughts that reflect “reverse age
Discrimination” where you believe a young person can’t possibly understand you – get
duration of experience. Focus on the capabilities acquired during your work life.
3. Buy a Computer, Cell Phone, iPhone or PDA Device - Employers expect to be able
to communicate with you by electronic mail (email). Showing that you are technology
“savvy’ is a good thing. Not owning a computer can be a “showstopper”. You can buy a
serviceable desk top or lap top computer for $400 to $600. You will also need an
internet service provider (PeoplePC, AOL, Yahoo, or your local phone or cable TV
provider). At the very least, you’ll want to be able to say, “You can always reach me on
my cell phone”.
4. Acquire Basic Computer Skills - With few exceptions, many jobs require a
applications beginning with Word (word processing), then Outlook (basis for most
corporate email systems, then Excel (spreadsheets), and finally PowerPoint (for
presentations). Learn how to perform internet research on Google and similar sites.
Check community colleges and adult education centers for classes or signup here to
5. Avoid “Age” References – Don’t put graduation dates. Present only the most recent
dates or durations.
6. Craft Your Resume and Applications – Carefully craft your resume or employment
applications to focus on skills and capabilities, not length of service. Describe what you
can do, what you have learned, and what you have accomplished. Consider having
7. Practice Interviewing - It may have been some time since you interviewed and you
may be facing a recruiter half your age. Practice answering and asking questions simply
and directly. Be ready for awkward questions such as “How long do you plan to work?”,
“Do you believe you are overqualified for this job?” Don’t get defensive. Give a direct
and honest answer. Move the recruiter to discussing your qualifications and “fit” for the
job.
8. Fitness and Appearance – Stay fit for life, not just for an interview. Get plenty of rest
and some exercise before interviews. You may have your “lucky interviewing outfit” but
Don’t worry about being overdressed. Even in today’s casual dress culture, looking sharp
9. Seek Out Age Friendly Employers – Look for RetirementJobs.com’s Age Friendly
Employer Certification™ seal on job postings. Some certified companies include Robert
Half International, H&R Block and Staples with more to come in the future. Check out
AARP’s Best Employers for Workers 50+ and Fortune Magazines 100 Best Employers.
10. Use the Latest Internet Networking Tools – Show employers that you are “wired” into
the internet. The best tool out there is “Linkedin.com”. Sign up and even invite your best
hiring manager prospects to join your network. You should also search your own name in
such search engines such as Google or Zoom Info. Make sure your search results are the
D. HEALTH INEQUALITY
Strategic goal
Council is committed to increasing access to opportunities for all residents to improve
Identify and address differences in health status between groups in the community
• Collect and use demographic statistics for planning decisions (e.g. gender,
the community have access to services and programs that support health and wellbeing
• Evaluate whether council programs and services are accessed by all local groups
in all neighbourhoods.
• Form partnerships with peak agencies and relevant community groups to work
• Provide programs that produce a long-term protective effect on the health of the
most disadvantaged in the municipality, such as programs that improve social and
facing the greatest financial inequality are not further disadvantaged. Promote these
opportunities as
widely as possible.
English speaking residents. Minimise barriers to the resources necessary to achieve and
• Offer programs for community members to improve their reading, numeracy and
other skills.
• Develop programs and services that can generate an income for participants (e.g.
social enterprise).