Inequality

There are many types of inequality existing in the real world: gender inequality, income inequality, race inequality and etc. To some degree, these inequalities mix with each other; for example, one of the phenomena for gender inequality or race inequality is income inequality that people across different races or genders are paid differently. In the modern world, it is hard to see de jure inequality, especially in the developed world; however, it is very common to see de facto inequality.

The problem of many inequalities is caused by the abilities of the disadvantageous people. The reason for the closing gender inequality gap is that in the modern society, males and females have equal opportunities to receive education and are equally capable in the labour market as they can do similar jobs. The racist problem is caused by the ability difference across different races. Of course, the ability differentiation is caused by many historical reasons and even cultural reasons. 

The average ability difference between different groups of people causes the income gap between different groups of people, leading to the issue of social inequality. Many people believe that to narrow down the social inequality is to provide more education; however, nowadays many researchers find that the contribution of education to incomes only counts 5%, the income is largely determined by people’s backgrounds.

To improve people’s backgrounds is extremely difficult, as the systematic shift of people’s backgrounds is usually caused by exogenous events. For example, the two world wars caused a sharp reduction in the number of Western noblemen and created a social class change.