20 mark question: social class inequalities

Question 1

wealth inequalities

Answer 1

1. richest 10th earn 45% of wealth
2. the lowest 10% have zero wealth, more depth
3. bottom 50% of population owned less than 5% of wealth in 2021
4. people living in the north east have average wealth of £150,000, and people in the South east is £340,000

Question 2

how does wealth lead to inequalities?

Answer 2

• education, house ownership- less stress around paying rent
• mental health- anxiety/depression, leads to divide
• ## more difficult to become richer due to the inheritance cycle

Question 3

income inequalities

Answer 3

• a rich executive will own a nurses yearly salary in 3 months
• for an average earner to have the income of the top 1%, you would have to save for over 5000 years.
• “strikes worsen as NHS staff don’t see an improvement in pay”- the guardian
• the richest has much more disposable income than the poorest. (ONS)

Question 4

how does income lead to inequalities?

Answer 4

• cant afford educational texts for sufficient achievements
• stress of not earning enough could lead to health inequalities

Question 5

social mobility inequalities

Answer 5

• adults with parents with parents in working class professions are 3x more likely to be in working class professions
• savage and Egerton: longitudinal study, chances of escaping the w/c did not increase with 55% staying in that class
• the better off are 80% more likely to end up in a professional career than the w/c (ONS)
• goldthorpe oxford mobility study, compared 3 classes: working, immediate and service class

Question 6

how does social mobility lead to inequalities?

Answer 6

• depending on your social class, its unfair for people who are in the working class, as the middle class have had a headstart
• due to old boys network, private schools (eg. Eton)

Question 7

poverty inequalities

Answer 7

• 1 in 5 people are in poverty (JRF)
• 2024: 23.8% of pupils in England were eligible for FSM
• 4.2 million children are in poverty.
• Wilkinson: Poverty brings extra disadvantages like ill health

Question 8

how does poverty lead to inequalities?

Answer 8

• social isolation: not affording to go out, clothes, have people round, leads to depression
• strain of financial worries: ‘no way out’, guilt, poor coping strategies (drugs, alcohol)
• low self-esteem: feeling looked down upon

Question 9

work inequalities

Answer 9

• Those better off are 80% more likely to get professional occupations (Independent 2019)
• National Minimum Wage is £12.21 compared to a rich executive earning £1298 per hour
• Weber: Those who have better jobs have better market position
• living wage in London is £13.85, for east England, its £12.62

Question 10

how does work lead to inequalities?

Answer 10

…

Question 11

education inequalities

Answer 11

• harker: link between material poverty and educational achievement: higher rates of stress and mental illness in children and in parents who are therefore less supportive, less space to study
• 59% of exclusions are from FSM students
• Becker: labelling theory, interviews teachers and had image of an ‘ideal pupil’
• fewer than 1 in 5 go to university if they are in a deprived area

Question 12

how does education lead to inequalities?

Answer 12

• material deprivation: diet and health, housing/living conditions
• cultural deprivation: w/c = lower value on education and less value in continuing school beyond leaving, and believe there is less opportunity for personal advancement so what’s the point?
• fatalism
• immediate gratification
• collectivism (value being part of a group more than succeeding and an individual
  cultural capital: self fulfilling prophecy, halo effect

Question 13

health inequalities

Answer 13

• bbc: ‘life expectancy between the rich and poor widens’
• those from more deprived areas are 56% more likely to commit suicide
• lower class children born with a lower birth weight are more likely to suffer with health issues

Question 14

how does health lead to inequalities?

Answer 14

• work: mental health can affect your ability to work, including physical as both areas is prominent in lower classes
• quality of life: if w/c individuals cannot experience the same life as m/c, it will affect their life chances
• behaviour: more working class people smoke and drink alcohol which could be causing high chances of cancer