- plays a big role in income 
- access to education is not evenly distributed

University of Connecticut

- This gap is impacted by: 
- Education
- Race 
- Generation wealth
- Income
- Meritocracy 

The Growing Gap Between the Poor and the Rich 

Barian, A. et. al. (2020). A Sociology Experiment. https://www.sociologyexperiment.com/ 

A Sociology Experiment

Education [in relation to inequality]

- Black people face high rates of poverty, mass incarceration and unemployment
- White people [compared to Black people] are about to pass much more money to their children (spoken about in Generational Wealth node) because they have not been systematically oppressed (ex: housing policies)
- The whole process of cumulative advantages is invisible to many white people who benefit from it (spoken more about in Meritocracy node)

Race [in relation to inequality]

- The more wealth you have, the more opportunities there are to increase that wealth, pass it to your children, and protect against life events that might create financial hardships
- Rich families may also pay lots of money so their children can get into and go to elite colleges
- This generational wealth tends to positively impact white families the most

Generational Wealth [in relation to inequality]

- For the majority income has been stagnant for nearly 40 years while the top 1% has enjoyed huge increases and the top 5-20% have seen modest gains
- Wealth inequality is closely associated with income inequality 
- Education, race and gender play a role in income

Income [in relation to inequality]

- A system where personal responsibility and individual effort are the sole determinants of success
- Decades of research have found that this is not true and that some individuals have an easier path to financial success than others

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