RCSSCI 220 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Extreme Ways, Parental Leave, Unemployment Benefits
Document Summary
Do we face a permanently divided society - sawhill. Us public has odd views on inequality and work. Lifetime income is more equally distributed than annual income because of mobility. Short term recession may exacerbate the trend. Job loss has long term effects for those in low income brackets. Mobility is largely centered around family structure and parental education. People will always have differing ideas about what is fair in the market and in life. Luck makes it impossible to start with a level playing field (iq, family, parents, disability, etc. ) Poor health, lack of social cohesion are consequences of inequality. There may be some evolutionary altruism - compelling us to divide resources equally. Inequality is worse in the us than europe (. 47 gini coefficient vs. 31) Us public still believes the economy is a meritocracy. Inequality isn"t as big of a perceptual issue.
