INEQUALITYAFFECTINGEDUCTION

Incomeinequalityaffectingeducation
WilliamsPalma
e3CivicHigh

INEQUALITYAFFECTINGEDUCTION

1
Abstract

Incomeinequalityhasbeenaincreasingissueforaverylongtime.Manypeoplearenot
awareoftheproblemthatthisissuehascausedovertheyears.Educationsisbeingaffectedto
wheremoneyhasisadeterminingfactortotheamountofeducationachildgetandaswellof
thechancestheygetforhighereducation.Theincomegapisgreatlyincreasingandsomething
mustbedoneaboutit.Nonprofitsandspecialprogramhavealreadytakenactionbyhelping
thoseinneed.Thisjustonesolution,otherscouldberaisingminimumwage,andtaxingtherich.
Keywords:Income,inequality,education,Issue,Awareness

INEQUALITYAFFECTINGEDUCTION

Incomeinequalityaffectingeducation
Weknowthatthosethatarebornprivilegedhaveabetterchanceateverythingtheyget
bettereducationbecausetheyliveinrichareaswherethathaveaccesstobettereducationwhile
thosethatliveinpoorareashavelesschancesatexcelling.InrecentdiscussionsofIncome
inequalityineducation,atopicofdiscussionhasbeenhowtobestaddresstheissue.Ontheone
hand,somesaythatincomeinequalityaffectseducationFromthisperspective,thosewhohavea
higherincomewillhaveabetterchanceofgoingtocollege.Ontheotherhand,however,others
arguethatincomeinequalitydoesnotaffecteducation.Inthewordsofbothlowincomeandhigh
incomekidshavethesamechances,oneofthisviewsmainproponents,Gettingaccessto
highereducationincreasesincomemobilityforlowerincomestudents,butaccesstohigher
educationisdifficultforlowincomefamilies,andthegapbetweenrichandpoorisincreasing.
(Hill,2015,para2)Accordingtothisview,educationisbeingaffectedbyincomeinequality
becausethelowincomestudentshavelessofachance.Insum,then,theissueiswhether
educationisaffectedornotaffectedbyincomeinequity.
Weknowthatthosewhoarebornprivilegedhaveabetterchanceateverythingtheyget
bettereducationbecausetheyliveinrichareaswherethathaveaccesstobettereducationwhile
thosethatliveinpoorareashavelesschancesatexcelling.Inthebeginningofthe1970sis
whenthisissuestartedtogrowfastaccordingtotheCenterofBudgetandPolicyPriorities
Beginninginthe1970s,economicgrowthslowedandtheincomegapwidened.Incomegrowth
forhouseholdsinthemiddleandlowerpartsofthedistributionslowedsharply,whileincomesat
thetopcontinuedtogrowstrongly.(Stone,Trisi,Sherman,Debot,2015,para56)Thisisalso
wellmentionedbyEmmanuelSaezaEconomicsprofessoratUCBerklyheexplainsthatthis

INEQUALITYAFFECTINGEDUCTION

biggapinincomethathasnotbeenseensince1928whichwasalsoknowastheroaring
twenties,wheremanygrewrichandcreatedadistortionbetweenincomes.Toputsimplyit
meansthattherichgrowricherandthepoorgrowpoorer.Inthewebarticle,Reportfinds44
percentofU.S.childrenliveinlowincomefamiliesAnnaSillersexplainsthat44%ofchildren
intheU.S.arelivinginlowincomefamilies.Sillerssupportsherclaimsbystatingthatanew
reportbytheNationalCenterforChildreninPovertyhasdemonstratedthatmostofthechildren
arelivinginlowincomefamilies.Theauthorspurposeistoinformthereaderthatthereisalarge
amountofchildreninpovertysothatmorepeopleareawareofsomanychildrenareinthat
position.TheauthorwritesinaconcernedtonetowardstheU.S.Thistextissignificantbecause
itpeopleinU.S.arenowmoreawareofthenumbersandhowgreatdealofchildrenarelivingin
lowincomefamilies.Thereportfoundthat86percentofchildrenofparentswithlessthana
highschooldegreearelikelytoliveinlowincomefamilies,and67percentofchildrenfrom
parentswithjustahighschooldegreeandnocollegeliveinlowincomefamilies.But,asthe
reportnoted,alargechunk31percentofchildrenwithoneparentwithatleastsome
collegeeducationalsoliveinalowincomehousehold.(Sillers,2015,para4)Thisquoterelates
tomytopicbecauseitgivesstatisticsthatshowhownotgoingtocollegemakesitmorelikelyto
liveinalowincomefamily.Italsomentionschildrenwithoneparentthisisalsoanimportant
factorthatcontributestoexceedinginhighereducation.Itishardtoraiseachildandalsogive
theeducationandemotionalsupportwhilethatparentisworking.Thestatisticcanalsobeseen
asallthosechildrenthatliveinlowincomefamilies,whichisthemajority,wonthaveasmuch
opportunityanditsnotbecauseoftheirfault.Oursocietycontinuestobecomeincreasingly

INEQUALITYAFFECTINGEDUCTION

segregatednotonlybyracebutalsobyincomewiththerichlivingneareachotherinwealthy
enclavesandthepoorconcentratedinintergenerationalghettos.(Ressenger,2015,para1)
Manyifnoteveryoneshouldcareaboutthisissuethatisincomeinequality.Itsimportant
becauseeveryonewantstohavebettereducationthatwillnotonlygivethemmorejob
opportunitiesandwaystobesuccessful,butalsohelpthebyimprovingtheeconomy.But
accesstohighereducationdependstoalargeextentonfamilyincomeandraceaswellasmerit.
Highereducationisnotcurrentlysupportingequalopportunityandsocialmobilityasmuchasit
should.(Hill,2015,para2)Highereducationisntaffordableforeveryone.Hillmakesagreat
pointwhenstatesthatthereshouldopportunities.Thisisrealthingthatmanyfamiliesaregoing
throughwiththeirkidsthatareapplyingtocollege.JohnD.SutteracolumnistforCNNshared
opinionexplainingthat"Whatimportanthearisthatwe'veloweredourexpectationsinaway.
Somepeoplethinkthatobviouslythepublicschoolstudentsgraduateatalowerrate,butwhy
shoulditbethatway?Therearepeoplewhohaveacceptedthesedivisions"(Sutter,2013)This
goestoshowthattherearepeoplewhobelievethatitshouldbethatwayandthatithasalways
beenthatway,whenitshouldntbe.
Solutions
Nonprofitsandspecialprograms
Oneapproachthatcouldnotnecessarilysolvethisissuebutwouldhelpgiveaidto
studentsoflowerincome.Thiswouldbenonprofitorganizationsorspecialprogramsthathelp
studentswiththeprocessofaccessinghighereducation.Eitherthroughtheschooloroutsideof
school.OneexampleofthiswouldbeBLCI(BarrioLoganCollegeInstitute)inSanDiego.This
institutionsmaingoalisHelpingDisadvantagedStudentsBecomeTheFirstInTheirFamily

INEQUALITYAFFECTINGEDUCTION

ToAttendCollege.Ipersonallyknowhowitworksandwhatpurposeitserves.Allthestaff
therehaveastrongpassioningettingstudentsmostlythosewhowillbethefirstintherefamily
togotocollege.Aprogramthatallowschildrentojoininthethirdgradeandguidethemallthe
waythroughthereeducationalcareertohighereducation,aswellasprovidingscholarships.In
otherwordsstudentsarehavehelpavailabletothemthroughthesetypesofprograms.

Raisetheminimumwage
AsolutiongivenbyJaredBernsteintheChiefEconomistandEconomicPolicyAdviser
wastoraisetheminimumwageto$12/hrin2020.Thatwouldhelpthoseatthebottomriseand
slowlyclosethatincomegap.PassingthePaycheckFairnessActalsorelatestothisbecausethis
couldbeagreatwaytohelp.Whatthisbillismeanttodoisequalpayforequalwork.Itwillwill
beanupdatetotheEqualPayActof1963.VicePresident,PovertytoProsperityProgram
MelssiaBoteachandRebeccaVallasthemanagingdirectorpointsoutenactingbasiclabor
standardssuchasfairerovertimerules,paidsickandfamilyleave,andrighttorequestflexible
andpredictableschedules.Theseareastheysaidbasicstandardsthatthatshouldbeprovided
fortheAmericanpeople.
Taxtherich
Thosethathaveareallyhighincomearepayingverylittletaxeswhentheyshouldbe
givingmorebecauseofcoursetheyhavemore.Closetaxloopholesthatbenefitthewealthyand
specialinterestsandraisetaxesoncapitalincome.(Boteach,Vallas,2015,para2)These
loopholesthatallowtherichtonotpayasmuchhavetobeshutsothatthepoordonthaveto
paymorethantherich.Themoneywouldbeusedforpubliceducationandthatwouldgive
everyoneachance.

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Limitations
Space
Nonprofitsandspecialprogramswouldbeawaytoapproachbutthereisaissuewiththe
numberofprogramsavailable.Manystudentswouldmissoutonspotsbecausethereisnot
enoughforeverysinglelowincomestudent.Studentsarenotwellinformedofthesetypesof
programsintherecommunities.
Time
Passingabillaswellasraisingminimumwageto$12/hraregreattheonlythingisthatbothof
thesewouldtakemanyyeartodoandwouldnotprovideaspeedysolution.Thisgoesfortaxing
therichtoobecausethatkindofthingwillalsotakealongtogothrough.Wehavetothinkof
themanypeoplethatwillbeagainstitandbyhavingthatitwillslowdowntheprocess.
Recommendation
Althoughitistruethatthereisnotenoughspaceforeverychild,Istillbelievethatby
reachingoutandbeinginvolvedwithprogramsthatwillhelpyouoryourstudentswiththere
educationcareer.Theothertwosolutionsthereisnotmuchcontroloverbutwiththiseveryone
cangooutandlook,dosomeresearchonprogramsaroundyourcommunity.Parentsand
studentsbothbenefitformthebeinginvolvedtheyareabletoexpandtheirknowledgeandpassit
onsothatmanyoftheirkidsandfriendskidshaveanopportunity.Thereisopportunityout
thereyoujusthavetolook.

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7
References

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