Economic inequality is a widening gap in the distribution of income, pay and wealth that results from globalization, technology, education and a host of domestic and national factors. This trend has profound consequences. Inequality can result in a weaker economy, higher poverty rates and greater stress for people living below the middle class. It can also lead to social instability, a lack of trust and reduced levels of social cohesion. It can also diminish opportunities for people to thrive in life by restricting their access to health care, education and housing.
Many of the factors that contribute to economic inequality are complex. For example, a person’s ability to move from one income group to another depends on the value of their assets, and asset values can fluctuate dramatically. In the United States, for instance, the value of homes climbed by a huge amount between the 1970s and 2020s. Some of this change can be attributed to inflation, but much of it is due to the booming real estate market.
A median of 39% of adults across the 36 countries surveyed say that some people being born with more opportunities than others contributes to economic inequality a great deal, while another 36% say it contributes a fair amount. This sentiment is strongest in Latin America, where half or more in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia say this is a big contributor to inequality. In addition, adults on the ideological left are more likely to say this than those on the right in nine of the 36 countries surveyed.