Sociology is the scientific study of society and social interaction; and concerns social problems and their solutions (Crone, 2012.) This focus on finding solutions to social problems that are objectively observed and quantified differentiates the field from other approaches. In order to distinguish which problems are to be considered significant and which ones are not, sociologists have established two criteria to establish how to make such determinations: one is the degree to which a social problem seriously endangers the life of people, and the second one is the number of people hurt by that social problem (Crone, 2012.)
A particularly relevant and serious social problem in the United States is that of income inequality, a gap which only widens with time. Income inequality can be viewed through a sociological lens by evaluating the financial, physical, and social health of individuals at different ends of the income scale, and the ways in which different groups are experiencing difficulties with economic status, physical and mental health, social relationships, and other variables that can be measured. In addition, statistics relating to income inequality can easily be obtained through tax data, measuring the amount of income and assets that a person or household receives, and how those assets appear in each of the five quintiles of the population. The most recent trends in the US level of income inequality have demonstrated that the top 1% of US citizens have an inordinate amount of the wealth concentrated in their hands, and that the gap between the 1% and the other 99% has only widened each year. The result is that there has largely been two classes of people in the United States, the wealthy and the poor, with the middle-class disappearing to a significant extent.
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One way that income inequality can be addressed in the United States is to make it a concern of powerful people. The issue can get attention and increase the possibility of getting solved when it comes to the attention of powerful people whose interests are at stake (Crone, 2012.) This can be demonstrated by the involvement of several billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and Hollywood elites in many well-publicized uncharitable endeavors. These wealthy humanitarians have an investment in the social and financial health of the country, and so they are motivated to address the problem of income inequality. Their attention to social problems such as income inequality can increase the chances of solving the problem, such as when some of these billionaires have supported raising taxes on the wealthy as a way to redistribute income.
There are many sociological concepts relating to income inequality. The first is “inequality”, which occur when people have differing amounts of money, power and prestige (Crone, 2012.) Clearly, this is the essence of the issue at hand. Other concepts pertaining to income inequality include income, or the money that people get from the jobs they hold, wealth, or what people own such as houses and cars, power, the ability of people to make other people do things, and prestige, when people are given a high degree of honor or respect (Crone, 2012.) Understanding these concepts helps to comprehend the notion of “income inequality” because they define the terms that are used to evaluate the status of this problem. If a sociologist is trying to understand the gaps in resources between two groups of people, the most obvious ways to evaluate their socioeconomic and societal status are by looking at their income, wealth, power, and prestige. The tremendous differences between those results amount to the gap that has been increasing so significantly in modern times.
In the United States, people at the top of the income chain tend to have an inordinate amount of resources consisting of all of the factors: income, wealth, prestige, and power, whereas the poor people as well is the working classes are likely to have lower salaries, few or no assets, and a dearth of prestige and power except for, perhaps, in their own personal circles. From a societal standpoint, however, this is a segment of the population that has become poorer while the rich have increased their wealth, making income inequality an obvious and ever-increasing problem issue in the United States.
- Crone, J. (2012). How Can We Solve Our Social Problems? Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.
