600 to 700-word essay for your tutor and classmates.
The rise in cross-border interaction among people is caused by globalization and the pursuit for better lives. However, this phenomenon has resulted in the problem of income inequality. It is a growing problem in various regions in different ways and even affecting developed countries such as the United States being labelled “the most unequal advanced country”. Though advancing for economic growth is essential for the country’s development, governments have to intervene to strike a balance involving all layers in the community to curb income inequality. This problem could be mitigated by the involvement of the government in education funds and distribution of income.
Globalization involves the rapid spread
of information and technology which forces countries to modernize quickly. This
increases cross-border migration of people with countries integrating different
cultures in the society. However, the increase in international trade through
globalization has led to entry of foreign professionals and cheap foreign labour.
Singapore, for example, has rapid technological progress over the years. The
country faces difficulty balancing wages of the people due to high-income
foreign talents venturing in Singapore for technological research and importing
low skilled labour. Hence, this pushes the income gap further as the country
progresses with globalization.
Kohut & Wike (2008) suggested
that the government should help the poor communities. One of the ways to curb
income inequality is funding of education for families of low skilled labours.
By developing arithmetic and language skills from young, the next generation of
the poor communities are able to advance to further education and improve their
lives. In addition, these children will develop social etiquette and communication
skills that are essential for a healthy society. Furthermore, the government
could provide grants for skill enhancement programs targeting low-skilled
working adults. With additional skills, these working adults will be holding
bigger roles in their company and get a pay raise. By encouraging education for
the low skilled workers through funding will improve their income as increased
knowledge would provide them with skills useful in any company in this
globalized world.
More often the relation
between globalization and income inequality is the wealthy society getting most
of the benefit. Hence, another way for government intervention is to restrain,
regulate and redistribute income. The widening income gap between the rich and
the poor has to be controlled by limiting growth of the highest income and
raising the lowest wages. By taxing the rich, the country would be able to
distribute income fairly. Singapore, for
example, has no minimum wage requirement to encourage a competitive wage
market for potential employees. However, the government has to encourage
companies to provide pay raise for lower income workers so as to solve the
problem of the widening income gap. Furthermore, this concept of limiting
growth of the upper class and paying higher wage of the
lower class has to be regulated to ensure the fair-share of the locals compared
to foreign workers. Moreover, imposing tax for the rich and providing subsidies
for the poor would help to reduce income inequality. By imposing higher tax on the
highest income, it would help to ensure a
fairer share of wealth whereas subsidies for the poorer community would lessen
their financial burden.
To conclude, governments
have to intervene in the situation to curb income inequality. In a 2007 Pew
poll published by Kohut & Wike, majority of people agreed that the
government could play a bigger role in providing assistance to the lower income
and needy families. Other than what governments can do in terms of
subsidizing and providing funds for the poor, employers could play an active
role by showing more care and concern for the financial situation of their
employees. Extreme low wages for the uneducated and elderly are forcing some
into a severe cycle of poverty. This would result in depression or mental
stress on these communities as they struggle for their everyday lives. Hence,
employers could allocate higher amount of budget in providing financial
assistance for lower income workers as well as upgrading courses for these
employees.
Reference: Kohut, A.,
& Wike, R, 2008. Assessing
Globalization: Benefits and Drawbacks of Trade and Integration. Havard International Review.
