Introduction
Income inequality is the uneven distribution of income in a country. There is a big gap between the poor and the rich. The rich are extremely rich while the poor are extremely poor. High inequality affects the economic growth of a country. This is because the country does not fully utilize its citizen’s capabilities leading to tension socially. In Canada income inequality has increased gradually for the last 20 years. Wellbeing is the quality of lives. It is brought about by the ability of people to attain their goals both personally and socially. It is measured in terms of health status, satisfaction in life, household income, happiness, and educational resources. it could be ensured by realization of some material goals; poverty elimination, basic needs fulfillment, employment, and equal wealth and income distribution.
Discussion
Causes of inequality
The main cause of inequality is the growing difference between salaries and wages. Weakness in the corporate governance and poor regulation has led to collection of huge sums of money by outsiders to the expense of the workers and shareholders. There is a growing pressure to deliver optimal profits in a short term period which is causing capitalism and only favoring the affluent people. Pay gaps between executives and ordinary workers has become the new norm which is excused by the extra efforts and responsibilities that either one of them has to put. This has created a loss in many middle class jobs in Canada. Unionized jobs have been lost in the private sector. In every five workers only one is represented by the unions.
Unions, according to economists, help raise the wages for lower skilled workers who are considered ordinary reducing the wage difference between them and managers. Unions make the pay difference between men and women, racialized workers and unracialized workers narrower. They have been the major driving force behind pension and beneficial programs towards working families. Due to recession there has been a lot of jobs lost and less secure jobs offered by employers. There are temporary, lower paying, contract, and part time jobs which have minimal or no access to pensions and benefits
Social change
More families are becoming diverse and unstable. There are more children raised in single parent homes headed by a woman which is a causal factor to poverty. This is because most of these women work in low paying jobs with low child benefits. They can not take care of the children. Immigration to Canada has been pinpointed to attribute more working poor families because of lack of support to the immigrants who are struggling to find their ground in an insecure job market and fight discrimination at the same time. In 1960s women earned less than men and minority citizens and the disabled persons were marginalized. Even today women are still pain less than men making them economically dependent on men. Households headed by women are vulnerable to poverty. Canada inequalities are caused by racial discrimination. Immigrants are not recognized in the job market because they lack international education levels, and Canadian work experience. Those brought up in Canada are paid less than their Canadian peers. This causes a gap between communities in Canada.
Country equality
Some countries are said to be more equal than others. They are able to shape economic forces and social change to achieve success and equality. High equality countries spend most of their income on public services and programs that help improve the social well being of its citizens. Inequality countries offer less support to unemployed persons, low income earners, and do not have enough to spend social programs, child and elderly care, and good affordable housing.
Economic growth
In Canada there was a strong growth of jobs in the middle class, investments in public services and social programs between 1940s and 1970s. Taxes were raised to cater for medical care, pensions, education, and insurance. This did not last long as it slowed down in 1980s when the economy weakened. The job market paid unequally. This created debts to the public and can only be compensated for by cutting down the social spending. The recession forced the government to cut down unemployment insurance benefits as it could not afford to satisfy the increasing unemployed lot.
Unfair taxation has added to income inequality in Canada. The wages of ordinary workers are taxed at a higher rate than the income from investments which are most likely owned by the rich. The poor becomes more poor and the rich richer. It is clear that though the economy and working world have led to inequality in incomes, public policies have made it unbearable in Canada.
Welfare state
This is the establishment of democratic socialism that leads to varying lengths in the market economy role of a state. It has led to a rise in government expenditure which increases deficits in the budget. The government has turned to high tax rates to fill the gap, borrowing and monetary expansion. This has led to more debts, inflations, higher rates of interests which lead to economic instability. This has caused a backlash in the welfare state. It does not have a way to remove the imbalances created apart from a high rate of economic growth which does not fulfill all the needs of the poor or serve to improve income inequality levels. Higher growth improves the income of the rich because institutions that promote inequality do not change, for example, the banking system. The factors for increasing the rate of growth can speed up inflation and imbalances. This means that introduction of a welfare state does not guarantee the realization of humanitarian goals; government interventions are still relied upon and there is more spending which leads to further inequality
Effects on the well being of children
Stress and illness
People with low incomes suffer from psychological stress. This is aggravated by low quality houses, insecure employment, food insecurity and poor working conditions. It can be based on gender, disability, race and social class. Children suffer more of the stress as they are isolated from their peers and mocked. They do not trust anyone and live in isolation as they are always discriminated upon. This leads to poor development in children. They live in fear and can not play freely, air their views or even communicate. They feel ashamed of where they come from and might even disassociate themselves completely.
Education
This is an important determinant of health. People with a higher level of education seem to be healthier than those with a lower one. Education helps people to interact and climb the socioeconomic ladder which gives them access to other social resources. This is not the case for the low income earners who do not get support from the government. They do not have enough money to take care of the children and take them to school. They end up dropping out and fending for themselves. School going children lack age appropriate general knowledge, social knowledge, language skills and cognitive skills. They are always locked out by their age mates and looked down upon for being poor and may be black. Lack of education however is not the major cause of poor health. It is more shaped by public policies. For example, with enough income and services like child care available to all, the threatening effect on poor health due to less education would be minimal. With higher education it is easier to make changes in the Canadian job market. Educated citizens have better opportunities at new trainings if they lost their jobs. The poor do not have this luxury; they have to work hard for less pay and maybe higher tax rates that leaves them with little money to sustain them and their children. Children may suffer from nutritional disorders due to poor eating habits and diet. The government of Canada should control the fees in higher learning institutions so that children from low income earning families are not excluded.
Early childhood development
Childhood experiences have a strong impact on social effects and psychological health. Babies born with low birth weight and living in disadvantaged conditions are more vulnerable to health problems than babies from well off families. Some of these effects are as a result of biological problems during pregnancy due to poor diet, stress, and risk behaviors. They may also come from psychological experiences. There are situations where children go through risk factors but are not affected immediately. They later develop situations with health consequences. These are known as pathway effects. For example, it is not any cause of alarm if children are not ready to learn when they start school, but it could lead to exposure to situations that are harmful to health in the future like low educational achievement. Children should be provided with early childhood education no matter the income inequalities. This helps to break the relationship between their developmental outcomes and the parents’ socio-economic status
Children are more likely to show negative health and developmental progress if they are exposed to material and social deprivation for a long period. This is called cumulative effect. This effect can lead to emotional deprivation like incompetence and immaturity. Adverse childhood exposure may create inefficiency or helplessness which contributes to poor health. In Canada this is a major concern as there are many children living below income cut offs. Only a small percentage of families in Canada access good child care. Childhood development is determined by social resources available to parents. Public policies that are friendly to families can be provided by the government to benefit children from all levels of income
Food insecurity
Food is a basic human necessity and it determines the health of an individual. Places with food insecurity make people to have inadequate diets in terms of quantity and quality. Food insecurity victims are not sure if their methods of food acquisition are socially acceptable. It is a hindrance to enough nutritional intakes. This is because they take less of all foods rich in nutrients than those in secure regions. The risk of food insecurity in Canada is especially high in single parent households and socially assisted families. It is also common in households with children than those without. Aboriginal households are likely to be affected by food insecurity whether there are children or not.
Food insecurity brings about dietary deficiencies which are hard to manage. They include; diabetes, food allergies, high blood pressure, and heart diseases. It also stresses the family due to health effects uncertainties. Malnutrition affects a child’s development psychologically and physiologically. Most mothers avoid this long term effect on their children by reducing their share of food to give the children an adequate intake but children are still affected psychologically by the household food insecurity. In Canada fair health conditions like pain, vision, restricted mobility and hearing are associated with food insecurity. The Canadian government should increase wages and rates of social assistance to reduce food insecurity. Healthy foods should be made affordable to all levels of income earners
Social exclusion and housing
Housing impacts on health in various ways. Overcrowded areas give room for transmission of illnesses. Some houses in Canada lack adequate sanitation which is a health hazard. Lack of affordable housing is attributed to low wage which a result of income inequality. In western nations Canada is counted as one of the countries with low paying jobs.
Social exclusion is the denial of Canadian lifestyle to some people mostly aboriginals, blacks, women, and disabled persons. This marginalization denies persons the access to resources. They can be excluded from civil affairs, participation in socio-cultural activities, and access to economic resources. Social exclusion leads to experiences that are a risk to human health and mostly to children; hopelessness, powerlessness, educational under achievement, and depression.
Conclusion
References
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