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Impacts of Economic Inequalities on the Society

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Impacts of Economic Inequalities on the Society

The world is recording extreme growth in economic inequalities. According to Forbes, as

of 2020, there were 2095 billionaires globally as the World Bank confirmed that 3.5 billion

people are living below the poverty line of the daily income of $5.50. This expresses the extreme

level of economic inequalities within society today. However, economic inequalities are

inevitable since they are a result of policy choices and social structures. The impacts of economic

inequalities are counter-cyclical and affect a wide range of aspects including health, justice,

financial crisis, social inequalities, and human rights. Various studies have been conducted to

explore the relationship between economic inequalities and the highlighted impacts. This

research paper provides a comprehensive summary of the research questions, hypotheses,

samples, methods, ethical issues, and findings of these particular studies

Research question and hypothesis

The literature used for this research develops various hypotheses and research questions

based on the distinct aspects of economic inequalities they focus on. Among the research

questions, the presented specific research questions within the studies include;

How do economic inequalities lead to a financial crisis within a country?

How do economic inequalities lead to justice concerns?

How do economic inequalities cause social inequalities in health?

How do economic inequalities affect democratization within a country?

How do economic inequalities relate to debit and credit, and what are their

consequences?

How do economic inequalities impact malnutrition and the general health of the

population?
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Following the review of the articles, the cumulative research question that these research

studies seek to answer is; “How does the rising economic inequality change the way people

operate in society?” In answering this question, the research sourced data from reliable

previously completed research on the same topic and surveys (Alao, 2021). The articles provide

a link between economic inequalities and different significant aspects of society. This study

hypothesizes that economic inequalities have various impacts on aspects such as health, justice,

financial crisis, social inequalities, and human rights that affects how people operate within the

society. This statement forms a comprehensive hypothesis presented in the seven studies.

Methods and data sources

Out of the seven reviewed articles, five of them were quantitative while two were

qualitative. The qualitative data recorded numerical data while the qualitative data made use of

the perception of the participants. In some of the studies the quantitative data was collected

across the official sources such as the OECD of different countries (Heiserman & Simpson,

2021). These sources provide reliable data on the state of economic inequalities and their

consequences. This was used to test three channels; impacts of income inequality on the

borrowing behavior of the government, national external balance, and private debt market.

Within these studies, the data were mainly collected through meta-analysis and systemic

review of previously conducted studies and government reports. These involve reviewing the

results obtained in earlier research and analysis of statistics and reports on the topic. However,

two of the reviewed articles conducted surveys and interviews with the participants to acquire

data to test the hypothesis.

Most of the research on this topic does not use surveys, however, the study that has

applied it uses a web-based survey to collect data from the participants in the research on
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economic inequality and justice that uses a web-based study to measure the perceived

inequalities among 831 participants (Pengl, 2013). The study applied eight measures to acquire

data from the participants including; “Norton–Ariely, Eriksson–Simpson, Income Brackets,

Stratification Belief Diagrams, Inequality Pie Charts, International Ranking, Occupational

Justice Ratios, and Occupational Justice Likerts” (Heiserman & Simpson, 2021). The others use

already existing data since the topic, economic inequality, is best gained from salary reports,

rates, and OECD reports. The reason why the survey is not used in most of the studies is that the

topic’s most comprehensive sources include reports.

Sample/ population

The target population was employees in given organizations to learn the general

economic inequalities within the occupational sphere. The samples included the perceptions of

inequality, GDP, and salaries. As some of the studies seek to understand the perception of the

population on the issue of economic inequalities, some of them used their incomes to analyze

and provide answers to the research question (Alao, 2021). In the research on economic

inequality and malnutrition, the participants were experts within the health sector as the samples

were health records showing the malnutrition health state of individuals and their economic state.

Findings

The findings of the research comprehensively answered the research question and

matched the proposed hypothesis. Therefore, the findings established that economic inequalities

have extreme impacts that affect individuals’ operations within society (Heiserman & Simpson,

2021). In the study of economic inequalities and justice, the results of the perceived inequalities

identified that the Inequality Attitudes were on the scale (b=− 0.34, SE=0.14, p<0.05), and
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perceived inequalities were as follows (b=-0.42, SE=0.12, p<0.001). This expresses a higher bias

since individuals had a lower perception of inequality.

The findings in the research on economic inequalities and financial disturbance expressed

that an increase of 1% in the share of income accruing to 10% of earners is linked to an increase

in 0.04% of debts (Osman, 2021). Additionally, a 1% increase in the GD wage share, caused an

increase of 0.18 in the bank capital to asset ratio. These results express the impact that economic

inequality has on financial disturbance. Additionally, the study linking malnutrition to economic

inequities cites that obesity and adult overweight are more common among wealthier households

(Alao, 2021). In this context, economic inequities result in malnutrition prevalence.

The findings of the study on economic inequalities and health social inequalities have

linked economic inequalities to a wide range of social inequalities including job insecurity,

poverty, increased unemployment, privatization of services and goods, and increased

unemployment (Bacigalupe & Escolar-Pujolar, 2014). As a result, there are increased health

inequalities. Additionally, the study on economic inequalities has expressed the relationship

between the presence of economic inequality and democratization. Additionally, the other factors

affect the democracy of a country other than economic inequalities.

In conclusion, economic inequalities result in a number of impacts that affect the

operation of humans within society. Research has established a connection between economic

inequalities and a wide range of social inequalities including job insecurity, poverty, increased

unemployment, privatization of services and goods, and increased unemployment. The impacts

of economic inequalities are counter-cyclical and affect a wide range of aspects including health,

justice, financial crisis, social inequalities, and human rights. Within the seven research articles,

the hypothesis of the effects of economic inequalities on human life and their activities. Within
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these studies, the data were mainly collected through meta-analysis and systemic review of

previously conducted studies and government reports. However, most of the research on this

topic does not use surveys.

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References

Alao, R., Nur, H., Fivian, E., Shankar, B., Kadiyala, S., & Harris-Fry, H. (2021). Economic

inequality in malnutrition: a global systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ global

health, 6(12), e006906.

Pengl, Y. (2013). Strong theories, weak evidence: The effect of economic inequality on

democratization. Living reviews in Democracy, 4.

Bacigalupe, A., & Escolar-Pujolar, A. (2014). The impact of economic crises on social

inequalities in health: what do we know so far? International journal for equity in health,

13(1), 1-6.

Dwyer, R. E. (2018). Credit, debt, and inequality. Annual Review of Sociology, 44, 237-261.

Neely, M. T. (2020). The portfolio ideal worker: Insecurity and inequality in the new economy.

Qualitative Sociology, 43(2), 271-296.

Heiserman, N., & Simpson, B. (2021). Measuring perceptions of economic inequality and

justice: An empirical assessment. Social Justice Research, 34(2), 119-145.

Osman, O. (2021). Income Inequality and Financial Disturbances: Does Income Inequality

Engender Financial Crises? Social Indicators Research, 157(2), 417-442.