PsycInequality

Author: Rachel Downey I n “Equality, Sustainability, and Quality of Life,” Wilkinson, Pickett, and De Vogli (2010) argue that greater equality in societies is not only a prerequisite for coping with climate change, but it is essential. In societies with more equality, both physical and mental health issues are lesser. Presumably, this includes nations such as Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Japan. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, the rise in global temperature this century is estimated to be somewhere between 1.1 degrees Celsius and 6.4 degrees Celsius.This doesn’t sound too staggering to someone who uses the Fahrenheit system, but I did the math and the range is between 34 and 43.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This is terrifying. Imagine a humid summer in St. Louis with temperatures in the 135’s! This could lead to a number of global health crises, including foodborne illnesses, famine, malnutrition, temperature related deaths, and deaths from extr...

Author: Lily Davis Income inequality is the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner within a population. In the United States, the gap between the rich and the rest of the population has been continuously growing for the past several decades. For example, in 1979 the top 10% of the U.S. population made a weekly wage of $1,479, while the bottom 10% made a weekly wage of $414. As of 2016, the top 10% of the US population had experienced a steady increase in weekly wages, making an average of around $2,000 per week. Despite this steady increase in the top 10% of the US population, the bottom 10% of the population remained fairly stable and even slightly decreased, making an average weekly income of $397 in 2016 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). Not only does there remain a gap between the highest earners of the U.S. population and the lowest earners, but the gap is continuing to grow. The way our population thinks about inequality has a much larger impact on the i...

Author: Emilia Triola           There are many inequalities present in rural Bulgaria among various demographics. Although there are various social projects that aim to alleviate these issues with differing objectives the problems are still ever present (Abadjieva 2008). Elderly people that are over 75 years old in rural areas account for poverty rates of 16% which is over the national average (Abadjieva 2008). This contributes heavily to the state of the nation because Bulgaria has and aging population with about 23% being considered elderly which is among the highest in the EU (Abadjieva 2008). Illiteracy is twice as high in rural areas as it is in urban areas with the illiteracy rate being at 1.7% in rural areas for people between the ages of 24 and 64 (Abadjieva 2008). Almost half of the population have no secondary education as compared to 20% of the population in urban areas (Abadjieva 2008). Besides education and income these trends of rural a...