An Overview of Social Inequality

An Overview of Social Inequality: "EXPLORATIONS IN SOCIAL INEQUALITY

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.
--Plutarch

Edward N. Wolff's Recent Trends in Wealth Ownership 1983-1998 A 1979 Carnegie study ('Small Futures: Children, Inequality, and the Limits of Liberal Reform', Richard de Lone principal investigator) found that a child's future to be largely determined by social status, not brains. Consider Bobby and Jimmy, two second-graders, who both pay attention in the classroom, do well, and have nearly identical I.Q.s. Yet Bobby is the son of a successful lawyer; Jimmy's works infrequently as custodial assistant. Despite their similarities, the difference in the circumstances to which they were born makes it 27 times more likely that Bobby will get a job that by time he is in late 40s will pay him an income in the top tenth of all incomes in this country. Jimmy had about one chance in eight of earning even a median income.

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