What is your impression of the news from African countries such as Nigeria and South Africa? Is it about the crime rate or the skinny children who have to work instead of studying at school? Have you ever thought about those who suffer from hunger while you complain about the tasteless food your mother offers you? South Africa ranked second among the richest African countries in 2020 according to gross domestic product (GDP) listed by the World Population Review. In reality, more than half of the South African population lives in poverty and earns just under $83 a month. But according to Forbes' annual ranking of dollar billionaires in South Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer is the country's richest man with a net worth of US$7.3 billion. From this we can see that economic inequality in South Africa is much worse than we can imagine. So, as of now, I hope there is a thought in your mind that not all people in South Africa live in poverty, but in reality there is a huge difference in income distribution. This condition of economic inequality will worsen as the richest become richer and the poorest become poorer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A study by a team of sociologists from the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg in Germany claimed that countries with greater economic inequality may have more ills. This is because economic inequality can weaken social bonds between people. Furthermore, Federico Cingano had stated in his working paper for the OECD titled Trends in Income Inequality and its Impact on Economic Growth that economic growth will decline as economic inequality increases. So we cannot overlook the statement that income inequality can have negative effects on society as social ills can become deadly to the development of a country. Don't hesitate to be aware of the negative impacts caused by economic inequality. I want to raise public awareness of the negative effects brought by income inequality which will increase crime rates, decrease the level of education and the quality of health. So, I'll start with the rising crime rates caused by economic inequality that everyone should be aware of. Property Crimes and Violent Crimes First of all, crime rates such as property crimes and violent crimes will increase as income inequality increases. This is because the poor living in an unequal society may feel unfair and unresigned to the condition of the rich group and thus will lead them to get involved in violent crimes such as kidnapping for ransom. For example, a Malaysian businessman Datuk Seri R. Arumugam was reportedly kidnapped and his body was found on June 27, 2020. His family was asked for a ransom of US$50 million. Mario Coccia of the Italian National Research Council conducted research on the causes of violent crime and demonstrated that income inequality is one of the sources of violent crime in human society. For an increase in the price of food by the rich group, the high social tension on the poor group makes them feel like a burden and therefore will increase crime rates. The poor will suffer from economic competition and this will lead them to use shortcuts, which is a crime against property. In new research examining property crime by block gangs surveyed in three U.S. cities, Neil Metz and Mariya Burdinathey find that the greater the income difference between poorer neighboring block groups, the greater the level of property crime in richer block groups. as poor people tend to steal from rich families. Property crime will become more serious when the rich like to flaunt their property. For example in a case reported by The Sun in which Portuguese rapper David Mota was found tortured to death by thieves after sharing a billionaire lifestyle on social media. This could directly attract the attention of the poor who have the opportunity to take charge. Mostly property crime rates are due to psychological imbalance as to why they have it but I don't have it. The second: the level of education can be influenced by economic inequality since the high-income population can afford more opportunities than the poor. The richer family can invest more money in the quality of education and even time in their children than the low-income family. This has happened because wealthier families are able to afford a higher quality school with more educational resources. A 2012 study published in the journal Demography, “Investing in Children: Changes in Parental Spending on Children, 1972-2007,” showed that family time and money invested in children, regardless of rich or poor, increases drastically among both the rich and the poor. poor family. But the high-income family's investment in their children is two to three times greater than that of the low-income family. According to economists Richard Murnane of Harvard University and Greg Duncan of the University, the amount spent by high-income families on their children's enrichment activities has grown by 150%, while the amount spent by low-income families has grew 57% between 1972 and 2006. of California-Irvine. Therefore, from the research we can observe that the educational gap between children of high-income families and those of low-income families has widened. Children from high-income families may be exposed to more extra activities to improve their gifted skills. For example, music lessons, sports activities and other extracurricular activities can help children gain more skills and experience. This will benefit them in academic performance as they will be able to gain extra skills from co-curricular activities such as problem-solving skills, social skills, leadership and so on, which are absent from the class syllabus. As a result, the educational gap widens as wealthy students increasingly enter kindergarten far better prepared to succeed in school than students from low-income families. This is demonstrated by Sean F. Reardon in his book “Inequality in the 21st Century”. From here we can see that economic inequality affects not only the security, but also the educational attainment of children. Next, I will move on to the last negative impact on decreasing the quality of health. The poor population tends to have lower quality health as accessibility to quality healthcare and healthy food is limited. Wealthy groups tend to have more time and money to invest in quality health. For example, they may have a healthier lifestyle and food intake than the low-income family. The wealthy family may have high-quality health supplements such as vitamins and calcium or even the vegetables we consume daily may be organic vegetables. They are also able to purchase health insurance to give a guarantee to their health while illnesses or accidents occur.