Tag: #income inequality

GENDER INEQUALITY

Gender is one of the major sources of inequality in the world today. Girls are usually deprived of their rights and are likely to suffer from abuse and violence.

Discrimination based on gender gives rise to food insecurity, health risks, and exclusion from several opportunities. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 70% of the 1.3 billion people in poverty globally are women. According to World Food Program USA, more than 60% of the world’s hungry are women and girls, in nearly 2/3rd of countries, women are more likely than men to report food insecurity and one in three women with anemia are left untreated.

In a lot of countries women are not allowed to pursue higher education and they are married off early. In addition, domestic violence is a major problem in many countries including India. The women get beaten up by their husbands as men think they are superior to their wife and many women stay in abusive relationships and don’t speak up because of the fear of society.

Sometimes women face discrimation even at work, women who do actually work get paid less than their male counterparts and are disproportionately impacted by poverty. It is just unfair to pay someone less for the same work because of their sex. Therefore, we see how women empowerment is the need of the hour. We need women empowerment so that these women can speak up for their rights and never be a victim of injustice.

Women have suffered a lot at the hands of men. In earlier times, women were treated as non-existent and as if all the rights belonged to men. With the passage of time, women realised their power and began the revolution for women empowerment. Women’s empowerment can be defined as empowering the women to make their own choices, to instil a sense of self-worth and to influence social change for themselves and others.

Promoting women’s empowerment has emerged as a major global movement and has been continuously gaining momentum. While the western countries are still making progress, third world countries still fall behind in empowering the women.  While there has been progress with the passage of time, even then women continue to face discrimination and exploitation in every part of the world.

Women can be empowered through government schemes as well as on an individual basis. The people of the society and government must both come together to make it happen.  At the societal level, we should start respecting women and encourage them to take up jobs, higher education,etc. Women should get equal opportunity in every field, irrespective of their gender. Various programs or schemes must be made available for women so they can be learn skills to fend for themselves in case they face financial crisis.

Today, more than ever, women enjoy their rights. However, there are many women who are still fighting to come out of the cluthes of patriarchy and there is a long way to go.

Income Inequality in India

Income inequality refers to the unevenness in the distribution of income throughout the population. In India, income inequality has emerged as one of the major economic problem and is increasing. According to World Inequality Report 2018, inequality in India has increased substantially from the 1980s onwards. The top 0.1 per cent earners have captured more growth than bottom 50 per cent all combined.
There are several reasons for this inequality. Firstly there is an extreme concentration of wealth and economic power in the hands of large industrialists. They have acquired massive assets over time. This can be due to easy availability of money in form of loans from banks. Secondly, inequalities have existed for a very long time, since the time of colonialization. The zamindari system was responsible for inequalities in land ownership which resulted in concentration of tangible wealth. Even though zamindari system was abolished, the damage had been done. The concentration of land ownership could not be broken. Even today, the main reason for income inequalities in rural areas is the concentration of ownership of lands.

Another reason for income inequality is the rising capital intensity of technology. Over the years, due to digital tsunami and consecutive rise of IT sectors, the demand for labour have significantly reduced over the demand for capital. Reduction in wages and unemployment has increased. More skilled workers have a higher demand and wage in comparison to low skilled workers. This has contributed towards increasing gap in income levels. Furthermore, there exists urban bias in private investments. Mostly rural people are the ones who are not very advanced with the technology. Majority of population in India belongs to rural sector and therefore a pattern of urban bias is observed in private investments. It can be seen as the use of highly mechanised projects. Here the share of wages added is relatively low. This naturally leads to inequality in income distribution and wealth accumulations.
Inflation has also greatly contributed in rising income inequality. It has affected the real incomes of working class while benefited traders, farmers, industrialists. Not much has been done to prevent this effect of inflation and hence the result is income inequality. Even the credit facilities are responsible for income inequalities. Large business frims or individuals have an easy access to loans and financial supply on favourable and supporting terms. They have an access to formal capital market but the vast majority of small marginal farmers, labours etc. do not have this. They depend largely on moneylenders who exploit them by charging high interest rates.
The government has desperately tried to curb these inequalities by taking various measures. Various land reforms and redistribution of agricultural land has taken place and the government has even tried to control monopolies and restrictive trade practices. Several employment and wage policies and social security measures have been undertaken and special programmes for the upliftment of rural population have been taken up. Even then, income inequality exists. All of these measures have little impact on poverty and thus inequality continues to grow.