Modern Studies – Social and Economic Inequalities USA
Why are there inequalities in education among ethnic groups in the USA?
Why do some Americans have a better/worse education?
Economic background.
University education is expensive − limits access to poorer groups but leads to greater opportunities for better-off groups. E.g. Harvard and Princeton are expensive private universities.
Some children are from wealthier backgrounds and parents can afford private schools which leads to better educational opportunities.
Some children are from lower social economic backgrounds : These children often are unable to complete education as they need to work to financially support families. They have less access to further education which costs money.
Role Models and culture
Some children have positive visible role models which demonstrate the importance of education and children work to achieve the same. E.g. Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, Bill Gates. Many middle class children have parents who have done well through a good education. API children have parental pressure to work hard and achieve, as a result API have double the college graduates of whites. In ghettos, academic success is less valued. Sporting achievement is valued e.g. basketball and football players. In ghettos people who have money may be a gang member or criminal. Black and Hispanic children are most likely to drop out of high school.
Location :
Spending on education varies by state and between inner city and suburban areas .In wealthiest 10% of school districts educational spending is ten times more than the poorest 10%. Children living in areas of higher spending have greater opportunity to do well.
Some children attend suburban schools which tend to have : Higher staff per pupil ratio, a positive attitude to education which encourages learning.
Some children attend inner city schools which tend to have : fewer staff per pupil/ gang violence and often poor building maintenance / low academic success rate which limits ability to learn in school.
Language – some newly arrived Hispanics struggle with English which impedes learning.
Why are there inequalities in health among ethnic groups in the USA.
1. NO NHS. People have to purchase private health insurance. Not all can do this, therefore often do not get healthcare required. (Due to poverty so affects what type of people..?)
2. Poor people can get Medicaid and over 65 Medicare – however the quality of care provided is not the same as private insurance. State control so provision varies across country.
3. Means testing of Medicaid and Medicare means that some poor people can't afford health care insurance but do not get government help.
4. Private insurance based system less likely to be accessed by those on low incomes or not enrolled in employee schemes.
5 .Poverty cycle – Some ethnic groups born into poverty which affected health. E.g. low birth weight of Black babies. Wealthy white are more likely to be able to afford treatment for drug addiction than people in ghettos.
6. Illegal immigrants are not entitled to cover.
7. LOCATION : Life for Blacks and Hispanics in the Ghetto causes many health problems, These people are more likely than any other group to die from guns, drugs, AIDS and Obesity. Which explains why white people have a life expectancy of 5 years more than other ethnic groups.
Describe, in detail, inequalities in health between different ethnic groups in the USA.
Access to treatment
• Americans need private medical insurance to pay for health costs.
• Ethnic minorities more likely to be uninsured, receive poor quality care, suffer more health problems and die prematurely.
• Usually uninsured due to unemployment, employer does not provide cover or because they do not qualify for government funded care.
Life expectency
• Lower life expectancy figures for Black Americans compared with Whites, Hispanics and Asians. Infant mortality is twice as high for black infants as it is for white infants.
Illness
• Native Americans, Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to rate their health as fair or poor in comparison to whites and Asians.
• Black women have the highest death rates from heart disease, breast and lung cancer, stroke and pregnancy among women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• Native Americans are more likely to suffer from alcoholism and diabetes.
Explain, in detail, why the Government has made changes to health care in the USA
AND explain, in detail, why there has been opposition to these changes.
Reasons for Government’s changes to health care
USA has poor health record by international comparisons e.g..
Many Americans uncovered by any health insurance e.g.
High cost of health care e.g.
Some, who have health cover, are insufficiently covered in the event of serious/chronic illness. e.g.
Reasons for opposition to changes
Health care companies oppose government involvement
Some believe it will be very costly to reform health care and increase taxes
Some Americans oppose increased government intervention in peoples’ lives
Political opposition to President Obama.
Why do some groups in America do better in employment than others?
Why do some members of ethnic groups find it harder than others to get a job?
Describe 2 economic inequalities faced by some Americans. (Refer to both q)
Poorer educational attainment: Black/Hispanic high drop out level. High School diploma essential to escaping poverty..
Language difficulties for more recent immigrants or those where English is second language. This lack of language makes it hard to get a skilled job.
Discrimination and racism – even if qualifications are equal – Black and Hispanic face discrimination when hiring.
Illegal status of some recent immigrants – can only do low paid unskilled work.
Credit crunch it has been workers who do unskilled work with short term contracts that have been made unemployed e.g. construction with Black and Hispanic.
Location Detroit has double the unemployment rate of the US average and also rural areas are suffering from high rates of unemployment
Why do some Americans live in poverty?
Poorer educational attainment: Black/Hispanic high drop out level. High School diploma essential to escaping poverty..
Language difficulties for more recent immigrants or those where English is second language. This lack of language makes it hard to get a job which pays well.
Discrimination and racism – even if qualifications are equal – Black and Hispanic face discrimination when hiring.
Illegal status of some recent immigrants – can only do low paid unskilled work.
Credit crunch it has been workers who do unskilled work with short term contracts that have been made unemployed e.g. construction with Black and Hispanic.
Poverty cycle many Americans are born into poverty and therefore more likely to remain trapped in it through poor housing, low education and low paid work.
Welfare Some Americans rely on welfare payments which do not provide an adequate income.
Explain why some Americans are more likely to be involved in crime than others.
1. Education Some “ghetto schools” may have a gang/violence problem which limits ability to learn in school and so leads to a crime culture. Less value on academic success> low paid work.
2. LocationSome minority groups may have no choice but to live in poor quality housing such as the projects, eg Robert Taylor homes in Chicago or the Marcy Projects in New York. Less
affluent areas are characterised by poverty and crime.
3.No role models In some ghetto areas there are few successful role models. The wealthiest person in the neighbourhood may be a gang member or criminal. This encourages the idea that crime pays.
4. The welfare system in the USA is not overly generous and many groups such as the
unemployed and lone parent families have to rely on it, leading to poverty. This situation
can be a breeding ground for crime.
Explain, in detail, why policies of Affirmative Action have been supported by some and
opposed by others in the USA.
Affirmative Action programmes may include – awarding of contracts to black owned businesses, promotion and recruitment policies, university admission etc
opposition on basis of
– opposition to racial preferences
– detrimental effect upon economy
– bureaucracy
– negative impact upon Whites
– promotional/admission of less well qualified individuals
support on basis of
– need to reduce economic and social inequalities
– undo wrongs of previous discriminatory practices
– creation of more harmonious society
– allow opportunities for Black Americans etc
Explain, in detail, the social and economic reasons why many Americans have become
successful.
1. Some Americans can afford medical insurance and get excellent care; this allows them to lead full and active lives.
2.Some children attend excellent schools in the suburbs or go to private fee-paying schools and get good qualifications. This may result in a university education and a career in a highly paid profession.
3. Wealthy people tend to live in the suburbs where there is a more positive attitude towards education. Many middle class children have parents who also did well through education. Positive role models are visible among wealthier groups.
4. “The American Dream” The capitalist economic system encourages private enterprise and values wealth creation. American ideology places a lot of emphasis on this and so many American people strive to become successful and do not like government intervention in their lives eg opposition to Obama’s health reforms.
5. Many Americans have made a success of their own business as Capitalism can offer large financial and material rewards.
6. Some groups suffer from little discrimination. White Americans still occupy most top level government and business positions. Race is not usually a barrier to their success. Sexism in American society is not usually a problem for men.
Explain, in detail, why in the USA, social and economic inequalities continue to exist.
( E.g. why do Americans not have equal education/ healthcare/ work/ income)
You could refer to .....
Education
• The inequality is that lower attainment leads to poor employment prospects for some groups.
• Some Americans attend and stay on at excellent schools, others do not and may drop out early. ( because...)
• Asians and Whites are most likely to complete education, followed by Black Americans with
Hispanics the least. ( because....)
Health
• The inequality is that there is poorer health for some minority groups.
• Black Americans having the highest death rates.
• Some Americans can afford private health, others may have to rely on Medicare and Medicaid.
• Whites are most likely and Hispanics least likely to have private health insurance.
• Asians/Hispanics can have much lower death rates.
Employment/Unemployment
• The inequality is that some groups have poorer incomes.
• Most Americans are in work but some cannot find work due to poorer qualifications.
• Asians/Whites are the ethnic groups most likely to be employed, Blacks/Hispanics the least.
• The recent economic changes have hit some groups more than others.
Wealth/Poverty
• Asians/Whites are the ethnic groups with the highest incomes followed by Hispanics and Black Americans.
• Many Americans have a wealthy lifestyle due to a good job and pay – The American Dream.
• Some Americans have a very low income due to unemployment or low pay.
• American government welfare payments are low.
Born into the poverty cycle.
• This leads to poverty for some groups.
Explain why not all American citizens are equal.
Some Americans may be poor and others rich.
· Most Americans are in work but some cannot find work due to poorer qualifications.
· Asians/Whites are the ethnic groups most likely to be employed, Blacks/Hispanics the least.
· The recent economic changes have hit some groups more than others. E.g. those in low paid unskilled work, construction.
· Some Americans born into poverty cycle which is difficult to escape.
· Some Americans will do low paid unskilled work and others will do white collar jobs.
· Approx. 40% of Americans will find themselves below the Federal Poverty Line at some point within a 10 year period.
· Black Americans have the highest poverty level overall Blacks and Hispanics more likely to experience social and economic inequality as a result of poverty compared to other groups.
· Many have to rely on welfare for their income due to limited job opportunities – blacks are the biggest group receiving welfare.
Some Americans may have good health and others poor health.
• Some Americans are able to afford private insurance such as Blue Cross or Blue Shield.
• Elderly may have to rely on Medicare and poor on Medicaid if they have no private insurance.. These provide only basic cover.
• Strict means testing to receive healthcare results in a large number of Americans being uninsured.
• This means they need to go to charity hospitals.
Some Americans may get a good education and others a poor education.
• Some attend ghetto schools which receive less funding than suburban schools and have fewer staff per pupil which results in poorer learning experience.
• Some recent immigrants may struggle with English as the main language in school.
• Some schools may have a gang/violence problem which limits ability to learn in school.
• Black and Hispanic children have the highest drop out rates for high school, they lack a positive culture to education or role models.
Some Americans may be homeless or in poor quality housing and others live in huge houses.
• Some minority groups may have no choice but to live in poor quality housing such as the projects. (Robert Taylor homes)
• Recent immigrants may not be able to afford good quality housing and live in overcrowded/ sub-standard houses.
• Racial segregation still exists between mainly vanilla suburbs and minority ghettoes.
• Over 40% of homeless in America are Black.
Some Americas are treated less fairly by the justice system.
• Texas has the highest rate of death penalty.
• Blacks are more likely to be given death penalty for killing a white than the reverse.
• Blacks and Hispanics are 3x more likely to be searched after a car is stopped than a white.