inequality

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Inequality Is Growing In The US And Around The World – Here’s Why

U.S. income inequality grew in 2021 for the first time in a decade, according to data the Census Bureau released in September 2022. That might sound surprising, since the most accurate measure of the poverty rate declined during the same time span. But for development experts like me, this apparent contradiction makes perfect sense. That’s because what’s been driving income inequality in the United States – and around the world for years – is that the very rich are getting even richer, rather than the poor getting poorer. In every major region of the world outside of Europe, extreme wealth is becoming concentrated in just a handful of people. Gini index Economists and other experts track the gap between the rich and the poor with what’s known as the Gini index or coefficient. This c...

Facial Analysis AI Is Being Used In Job Interviews – It Will Probably Reinforce Inequality

28Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Facial Analysis AI Is Being Used In Job Interviews – It Will Probably Reinforce Inequality

Artificial intelligence and facial analysis software is becoming commonplace in job interviews. The technology, developed by US company HireVue, analyses the language and tone of a candidate’s voice and records their facial expressions as they are videoed answering identical questions. It was used in the UK for the first time in September but has been used around the world for several years. Some 700 companies, including Vodafone, Hilton and Urban Outfitters have tried it out. Certainly there are significant benefits to be had from this. HireVue says it speeds up the hiring process by 90% thanks to the speed of information processing. But there are important risks we should be wary of when outsourcing job interviews to AI. The AI is built on algorithms that assess applicants against i...

How People Understand Racial Inequality Shaped By Black Lives Matter Protests

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

How People Understand Racial Inequality Shaped By Black Lives Matter Protests

Considered to be the largest social justice movement since the civil rights era of the 1960s, Black Lives Matter is more than the scores of street protests organized by the social justice group that attracted hundreds of thousands of demonstrators across the world. From its early days in 2014 after Officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown, Jr. to the protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Black Lives Matter has opened the door for social change by expanding the way we think about the complicated issues that involve race. As sociologists who study how protests lay the groundwork for social change, we understand their necessity as a tactic to draw attention toward a movement’s broader agenda. In our study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ...

Poorest Americans Are Hit Hardest By Inflation Inequality And Soaring Prices On Necessities

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Poorest Americans Are Hit Hardest By Inflation Inequality And Soaring Prices On Necessities

The fastest rate of inflation in 40 years is hurting families across the U.S. who are seeing ever-higher prices for everything from meat and potatoes to housing and gasoline. But behind the headline number that’s been widely reported is something that often gets overlooked: Inflation affects different households in different ways – and sometimes hurts those with the least, the most. Inflation, as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is designed to track the price increases in a typical U.S. household’s basket of goods. The problem is spending bundles differ across households. For example, a family in the lowest 20% of income typically spends around 15% of their budget on groceries – this is nearly 60% more than households in the top 20% of the income distribution, according to m...

Obscures Profound Exploitation, Inequality – The Rise Of Female UFC Fighters

15Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS

Obscures Profound Exploitation, Inequality – The Rise Of Female UFC Fighters

The mixed martial arts pay-per-view event UFC 261 features two bouts that would have been unheard of just 10 years ago. Russian-born Valentina Shevchenko will fight Jessica Andrade, a Brazilian and an out lesbian, for the women’s flyweight title on April 24, 2021. That same night, Rose Namajunas, an American of Lithuanian descent, will square off against Zhang Weili, who has caused the popularity of the UFC to surge in her native China, for the women’s strawweight title. The rise of women in mixed martial arts – which the late Sen. John McCain once derided as “human cockfighting” – is remarkable, and reflects the diversity and global appeal of the sport. But as I write in my new book, “Fighting Visibility: Sports Women and Female Athletes in the UFC,” it’s important for fans and spectat...

Homes are flooding outside FEMA’s 100-year flood zones, and racial inequality is showing through

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS, Journalism

Homes are flooding outside FEMA’s 100-year flood zones, and racial inequality is showing through

When hurricanes and other extreme storms unleash downpours like Tropical Storm Beta has been doing in the South, the floodwater doesn’t always stay within the government’s flood risk zones. New research suggests that nearly twice as many properties are at risk from a 100-year flood today than the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps indicate. Unfortunately, many of the people living in those properties have no idea that their homes are at risk until the floodwaters rise. I am a sociologist who works on disaster vulnerability. In a new study, I looked at the makeup of communities in Houston that aren’t in the 100-year flood zone, but that still flood. What I found tells a story of racial disparities in the city. Research in other cities has shown similar flooding problems in ...

5 lessons from the coronavirus about inequality in America

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIETY

5 lessons from the coronavirus about inequality in America

The coronavirus is a global threat, but the pandemic has an uneven impact across the U.S. It exacerbates existing inequalities and creates new challenges. I think this crisis can teach several important lessons about inequality in America: how it hurts, who it hurts the most, why that’s the case and what can be done about it. 1. Staying home is a luxury For millions of Americans, staying at home is a luxury they cannot afford. The comfort and well-being of all Americans depends on grocery clerks, delivery drivers and factory workers putting their own safety second so they can stay on the job. While the upper middle classes take their work with them, working and middle-class Americans are tethered to their jobs: 52% of college-educated people can work from home, as compared to just 12% of...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

New Study Shows Wealth Inequality Hits Communities of Color Hardest

And it’s not just about rich and poor. The racial wealth gap is damaging to the economy as a whole. The story of the growing inequality in the United States has many dimensions. There is the overarching story of the last four decades of polarizing income, wealth, and opportunity. But the many ways these inequalities manifest depend on people’s gender, race, age, immigration status, and other experience. One piece of the story is to understand how 40 years of public policies have worsened the racial wealth divide and enriched the top 1 percent. Wealth is where the past shows up in the present, both in terms of historical advantages and barriers. Measures of wealth—what you own minus what you owe—reflect the multigenerational story of White supremacy in asset-building. Fo...

15Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

What School Lunches Have to Do With Fixing Wealth Inequality

Dismantling a capitalist food system could begin with schools, which nationwide spend about $3 billion on food contracts. Once a year, Russell Farms in Brackney, Pennsylvania, hosts a harvest celebration, where students from nearby Tioga Central School District in New York state get to visit, talk to farmers and pick apples from the farm’s 12 varieties. “It’s a great day because the kids can make the connection and see where their food is grown,” says Julie Raway, a registered dietitian for 15 New York school districts. And they are excited when the same fruit they sampled shows up in their cafeteria at school. Russell Farms sells apples to local school districts as part of a Farm to School initiative—a growing national movement that aims to create equity and redistribute wealth...

8Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Shop Here, Not There: Science Says Reducing Inequality Is Almost That Simple

New research shows that shuttling even 5 percent of consumer transactions to poorer neighborhoods can reduce income inequality by up to 80 percent. Imagine heading out to run errands at all your usual places, and your phone’s “equity app” has a better idea. Siri might say: “Buy your groceries at one of these other stores, just as close as your regular store.” Or: “There are three coffee shops within 2 miles. You haven’t tried this one before.” We already get shopping suggestions when we bring up Google Maps, especially when our smartphones are transmitting our GPS coordinates. A similar type of computation is happening behind the scenes at Facebook and Twitter, whose targeted ads can sometimes be scarily on point. But what if, instead of just boosting sales, those suggestions coming fr...