1. Wealth distribution
Income and wealth distribution are closely interrelated. Some primary income can be obtained from asset ownership in the form of interests, dividends and other revenues from capital. Indeed, revenues from property may represent a large share in the total income of the higher income groups. Some of that income is then saved and used for capital accumulation to generate more wealth. Generally, this interrelationship applies to high-income groups who are able to save a significant proportion of their revenues, so that most of the wealth is concentrated in these groups. As a matter of fact, countries with a high concentration of wealth also tend to have a high concentration of income, and vice versa.
2. Gender inequality
An important aspect of social and economic inequality relates to gender. Gender-related differences in incomes and opportunities (within and across households) are determined by a wide range of factors, such as employment and wage conditions, differences in access to education and health, as well as other social and cultural factors. With regard to employment, inequality does not refer only to paid work, since unpaid work within households tends to be disproportionately undertaken by female household members in most societies.
3. Unequal access to education
Access to education is a key factor in generating equality of opportunities. Widespread access to education can facilitate social mobility, whereas access limited to the elite or upper income groups will perpetuate existing social stratification and income inequalities. Inequalities of education and income inequalities are mutually linked: good education leads to better remunerated occupations, and, in many countries, a higher income can buy a better education. Moreover, education impacts on other important forms of inequality, including infant mortality and longevity, health and nutrition, employability and income levels, gender parity and participation in social, civil and political life (Sen,1980). Today more people have access to education, including at higher levels, than ever before. One of the most basic indicators of this progress can be seen in rising levels of literacy, the ability to read or write being a minimum threshold towards equalizing access to knowledge. The youth literacy rate exceeds 95 per cent in 63 of the 104 countries for which data are available, and is 99 per cent in 35 developing countries (UNDP, 2010). People who are illiterate today tend to be older, reflecting highly unequal levels of education in the past. Worldwide, only 7 per cent of 15–24 yearolds have never attended school compared with more than one third of people over the age of 65 years.