Income Inequality in the United States of America
The issue of income inequality has been in existence in society for quite some time. Income inequality is the condition whereby people in society or workplace earn different wage rates leading to an extremity in the wage distribution, and only a handful of people earning higher wages than the rest of the population. Income inequality is a serious challenge in American society because it leads to slower GDP experienced in the country as well as a rise to poverty levels among the citizens. Income disparity in the U.S is an existing issue because it affects the livelihoods of people in society as one group can earn higher than the other, thus making it experience a more comfortable lifestyle than the latter. Income inequality in the U.S. has been attributed to various factors facing the American economy, which have led to a change in the wage distribution in the country. Technological advancements and improvement, the issue of race and ethnic background, government, economic and trade union policies, and wealth distribution are some of the key factors leading to a disparity of wages in America.
Advancement of technology over the last century has seen the rise of the American economy to a whole different level making it one of the economies in the world in recent times. However, it has increased the rate of wage disparity among the population due to the demand for labor between skilled and unskilled labor. An article by Elena Deskoka and Jana Vlckova state that, “the technological change and industrialization and after that is eventually reduced as the majority of workers become employed in high sectors” (Deskoska and Vlčková 5). People with skilled labor able to use certain technologies in their workplace earn more money than people who are untrained to use the same workplace. For example, a computer analyst at a tech firm earns more money than the guy who cleans the firm or the guy who delivers coffee at the same firm. Increased technology has also led to the spiking rate of hiring skilled labor, thus, leaving those unskilled in using technology to become unemployed and unable to earn a salary. Thus, technological advancements have led to the disparity in wage distribution between skilled and unskilled labor within the American population.
Apart from advancement in technology, the issue of race and ethnic differences among the American population has been attributed as a factor affecting wage disparity in America. The wage gap between the whites and non-white people in America shows there is a wage gap rising due to race. The wage gap between the races is developed due to different factors such as different education opportunities between colored and white people, which leads to skilled and trained labor. A research conducted by Nwafok and Ho-Hing concludes that “differential between the earnings for the educational attainment of African Americans and Whites” increases as inequality rises (10). Education levels between white and people of color in America lead to the gap in employment opportunities leading to income inequality between races in America.