Today, the world is full of inequalities. There is an existence of a polarized structure in which the society is mainly segmented into racial and economic classes as well as other defining groups. Social stratification - the situation whereby a society's level are divided based on power or wealth. The most common forms of groupings are social classes, which are used for delineating economic groups in a specific society. While the three most frequently cited classes are upper class, middle class, and working or lower class, in the real sense. More complicating efforts made to classify social classes is that various societies and other regions of the globe, different systems of stratification are used depending on the norms or values of the community. Such stratification systems are hierarchical structures ad caste systems.
Social inequality is a situation whereby there are differences among individual groups in a society based on their social status, social circles and social groups. Research shows that inequality is as prevalent today as it was in the past, although there are small changes today in different countries. The easiest means of measuring the inequality on social classes is by grading individual by their profession (Goldthorpe, 2009) . Generally, areas of class inequality are freedom of speech and assembly, access to voting rights, the degree of property rights and access to healthcare, education traveling, quality housing, transportation, vacationing, and other social goods and services. This essay discusses social inequalities in society, focusing on the causes and the negative consequences of such inequalities in society.
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Causes of Social Class Inequalities
One of the causes of inequalities is education. Although the twenty-first-century has seen a rise in access to education for many individuals, education is still a contributor to inequality. Such is because the education quality schools provide depends on the context of class or school. Inequality arises because different schools will offer varied qualities of education for various reasons. According to Duru-Bellat (2004) , schools differ in their effectiveness, particularly in nations where there is a minimum quality level guaranteed. Besides, education influences the social capital of a person.
Social capital is an individual's potential of activating and effectively mobilizing a network of social connection based on mutual recognition of proximity. An individual can use social capital as a private good to attain specific goals (Dragoš & Leskošek, 2003) . A person could use their accumulated social capital to create this social capital. Consequently, this inequality is connected through social proximities in which individuals group themselves into classes based on specific shared characteristics.
Occupations and careers have as well become a source of class differentiation amongst people. Researches have demonstrated that the measure of the variances in income between less-skilled and more skilled employees have changed dramatically over the last three decades. Since the 1980s, a rise in wage differences in the labor market has been witnesses (Ryscavage, 2015) . The key differentiating elements have been experience or education. Stress on education led to university and college graduates earning more compared to high school diplomas.
As a result of this change, highly skilled employees receive higher wages or occupy administrative and management posts compared to subordinate employees in the organization. Thus, it follows rationally that income gaps ascribed to levels of education are significant because only a small percentage of the population can pursue the highest education levels (Healy & Côté, 2001) . The implication of this is that children from poorer backgrounds are less probable to become wealthy in the future compared to those from richer backgrounds. This promotes the social inequality cycle, where the rich become richer, and the poor become poorer.
Another factor which has caused social inequality in developed countries is globalization. Globalization is defined by major cultural and economic integration. This trend is becoming widespread and with it a change in the manner in which societies and businesses operate. Among the effects of globalization is the mass immigration of individuals looking for better income and job opportunities (Duru-Bellat, 2004) . The immigrants along with their offspring are disadvantaged because of unequal distance that prevails between the language of their host nation and their native language. Duru-Bellat (2004) points out that the culture of the predominant groups saturates the institutions in the home nation and thus, only the people who adopt this culture may perform well.
Social stratification is another factor which contributes to social inequality. Social stratification is the categorization of individuals into different social classes. Some persons in society are subsequently given more freedom and power due to their social class. Class stratification makes the society divide itself into various classes of individuals based on economic welfare (Dragoš & Leskošek, 2003) . The members of distinct classes have different access to power and resources, which created a gap between the different classes. These social class sometimes determine the rewards and opportunities available to the classes and thus their success late in life.
Besides, social inequality happens due to a person's gender. The cause of this form of inequality is mainly due to the dual roles of unpaid and paid employees which most women perform in a capitalist world. Mostly, male dominance leads to women performing secondary roles because gendered task segregation makes men maintain superiority over females (Goldthorpe, 2009) . In certain countries, females are regarded as second class citizens, and their economic opportunities are considerably reduced thus making them depend on males.
Consequences of Social Inequalities
Fundamentally, social inequality is a major defining factor of health. Such is mainly because inequality triggers a big difference in access to resources in the society which leads to greater dissimilarities in health within the society. Acquisition of healthcare thus becomes nearly inaccessible to low-income earners as the healthcare cost and healthy lifestyle become more costly in the community (Wilkinson, 2005) . Also, social inequality results in lack of social cohesion and solidarity thus drastically reducing life expectancy. Further, the socioeconomic status of a person directly relates to the risk of heart disease as well as other lifestyle associated diseases.
Moreover, the connection between crime and social inequality is particularly disturbing. As the income distribution becomes more polarized, the interrelation between the two classes from different strata of the income divide is further reduced (Lee & Shin, 2011) . Consequently, this reduces both the prospective future income of the poor and their incentive to supply labor in the legal labor market is therefore weakened. Research demonstrates that motive for a crime for the rich is way too low because of high income, whereas it remains high for the poor. This is because people become more frustrated when they are under the low-income class compared to the high-income class — such results in antagonism by low-income earners against high-income earners that causes crime propagation. Similarly, the connection between violence and inequality is strong, and poverty is solely linked to higher violence levels.
Conclusion
It has been universally recognized that social inequality is a significant obstacle towards social and economic prosperity. This essay set out to discuss the causes and consequences of social inequality in society. This far, the essay has articulated the social inequality problem which faces both developed and developing economies alike. The proof presented in this essay indicates that social stratification, globalization, and education are among the main contributing factors to social inequality. It is evident that social inequality creates multiple adverse effects on the community. With the acknowledgment that social inequality leads to gross injustices, resolutions must be sought to deal with the issue. While it may be impossible ever to attain social equality, equality could be increased if the governments along with other relevant institutions implement the necessary measures to address the causes of inequalities discussed herein. A more equitable society would be both harmonious and also create more industrial development thus better-living standards of many people in the society.
References
Dragoš, S., & Leskošek, V. (2003). Social Inequality and Social Capital . Ljubljana: Peace Institute.
Duru-Bellat, M. (2004). Social inequality at school and educational policies . UNESCO. IIEP.
Goldthorpe, J. H. (2009). Analysing social inequality: a critique of two recent contributions from economics and epidemiology. European Sociological Review , 26 (6), 731-744.
Healy, T., & Côté, S. (2001). The Well-Being of Nations: The Role of Human and Social Capital. Education and Skills . Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2 rue Andre Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.
Lee, Y., & Shin, D. (2011). Income polarization and crime: A generalized index and evidence from panel data. Available at SSRN 1845772 .
Ryscavage, P. (2015). Income Inequality in America: An Analysis of Trends: An Analysis of Trends . Routledge.
Wilkinson, R. G. (2005). The impact of inequality: How to make sick societies healthier . The New Press.
