Rising inequality in Canada Essay

The increasing inequality in Canada has led to social divisions and income disparities in the country. Understanding the increasing inequalities in Canada is critical to the changing Canadian society. The rising inequality in Canada results from the disparities in income gap, distribution of wealth across societies, technological advances, institutional changes and low education levels. This paper aims to explain the causes of rising inequality in Canada and make recommendations on how to reduce inequality. Income inequality is pivotal to the rising inequality in Canada. According to a report by OECD, 20% of households in Canada own 67 % of the total wealth while 80% of households hold 33% (Levy, 2016). Further, the data by Levy (2016) indicates that the wealthiest 20% of Canadians accumulate 55. 5% of the country’s total wealth while the poorest 20% accumulate less than 6% of the wealth.

The enumerated data show that wealth in Canada is mostly accumulated by the wealthy while the poor continue thriving in limited wealthy. The wealthiest people are the owning class of Canada’s wealth (Yalnizyan, 2013). As such, the highly skilled continue experiencing income growth while the less skilled stagnate in the same income levels. Skill-based technological changes have also led to an increased demand for highly skilled labor and consequent rise in inequality. Institutional changes stimulate inequality in Canada. As described by Jaumotte (2015), changes in institutions in Canada have had an impact on levies which reallocate income to people wealthy people leaving little for the poor to cater for their needs. As a result, income becomes concentrated on some people whereas others who are often the poor survive on inadequate income.

As a result, wage differences have been increasing among all educational groups, especially among women. High levels of illiteracy among women are further associated with increased sexism in society (Breau, 2015). From a sociological perspective, in a society driven by education inequality, women are often likely to fall victims of negative prejudices and stereotypes due to illiteracy. Also, most low-class people in Canada lack the power to access quality education. Low-quality education subjugates Canadians to increased illiteracy and consequent rise in poverty levels. While a considerable number of Canadian populations are capable of providing low-skilled labor, the demand for skill-based labor is likely to favor just a small portion of the Canadian population. Thus, improving the labor policies should provide a more transparent way of granting equal opportunity between highly skilled and less skilled Canadians.

Effective labor policies will bridge the gap between highly skilled and less skilled labor as well as reduce the wage gap between the two groups. As a result, the income inequality will be reduced, and the social injustices of low and upper classes are eliminated. In addition to the labor policies, Canada should focus on improving the earnings of low-income earners. Particularly, imbalances lead to social injustices which consequently impede social growth. Reducing inequality in Canada requires the implementation of proactive measures focused on ensuring equal distribution of resources, affordable education, and effective labor policies. Federal and state policies should universally focus on the needs of the less privileged and marginalized populations. Future research should recommend proactive measures of enhancing equality not only in Canada but also globally to prevent and reduce social injustices.