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Articles on Income inequality

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More testing won’t improve math achievement. Here, Alberta premier Jason Kenney with Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education, after being sworn into office in Edmonton on April 30, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Why Jason Kenney’s ‘common sense’ education platform gets it wrong

The main problem plaguing Alberta students’ math performance isn’t the current math curriculum or teacher accountability, but inequality and ballooning class sizes.
Tourism, that quintessentially elitist pursuit, is now responsible for almost 8 percent of global CO₂ emissions. Blake Barlow/Unsplash

Inequality and climate change: the rich must step up

In the face of climate change, the poorest are suffering from the excess emissions of CO₂ linked to the lifestyle of the richest. It is time to act, in the name of climate and social justice.
As one of the fastest-growing cities in the developed world, Melbourne’s suburban sprawl has many costs. Nils Versemann/Shutterstock

Rapid growth is widening Melbourne’s social and economic divide

State and local governments can’t do much about the rapid population growth in Melbourne, but they can take steps to reduce the costs of growing disparities between the outer suburbs and inner city.
The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling has calculated the impact of the 2019 federal budget’s tax and welfare transfer changes. www.shutterstock.com

NATSEM: federal budget will widen gap between rich and poor

The Morrison government’s tax changes will benefit high income earners the most and low income earners the least, says the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
In this December 2017 photo, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulates Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, while Paul Ryan looks on, during a ceremony at the White House after the final passage of tax overhaul legislation. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Republican party and the undermining of American democracy

Donald Trump may have executed a hostile takeover of the Republican party, but the GOP has been laying the groundwork for decades.
Forida, who earns about 35 cents (AUD) an hour as a garment worker, subsists on watery rice when her family’s money runs out so her son may eat better. GMB Akash/Panos/OxfamAUS

There are many good ideas to tackle inequality – it’s time we acted on them

We wear the evidence of extreme inequality – clothing made by workers in Bangladesh for 35 cents an hour. But we know how to reduce inequality – we just have to do it.
Some countries seem to provide more equitable opportunities in schools and society in general. Others have work to do if they want to advance the adage that hard work and education afford success regardless of one’s existing social status. www.shutterstock.com

Education does not always equal social mobility

Conventional wisdom across much of the Western world says there’s a strong link between education and upward social mobility. Really?
The fact that parents may be physically absent from schools does not mean they are disinterested in their children’s academic and professional success. Muhammad Rizwan/Unsplash

Too busy for the PTA, but working-class parents care

Working class parents may be too busy to attend high school events, but they take an active role in their children’s success.
A forest fire works its way through a wooded area in Saskatchewan in May 2018. High-income nations have benefitted enormously from fossil fuels and the wealthy should now foot the bill to combat climate change. Joanne Francis/Unsplash

A wealth tax forces those responsible for climate change to pay for it

A wealth tax would put a price on past emissions and could be used to mitigate the negative effects of poverty, including vulnerability to climate change.
Workers’ falling share of national income is helping to fuel the trade union campaign to ‘change the rules’. Dan Himbrechts/AAP

To tackle inequality, we must start in the labour market

While government payments and programs go some way to reducing inequality, the transformation of the labour market and its institutions has cut workers’ share of the pie to historic lows.
Unions, which traditionally protected wages at the bottom end, are starting to tap into community anger at the wealth flowing to the top end of town. Mick Tsikas/AAP

The fair go is a fading dream, but don’t write it off

This is the first article in a series, Reclaiming the Fair Go, to mark the awarding of the 2018 Sydney Peace Prize to Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz.
The housing boom increased wealth gains for affluent households while rising housing costs undermined income gains for less affluent households. Sam Mooy/AAP

How the housing boom has driven rising inequality

The Productivity Commission neglected the impact of housing costs. After allowing for these costs, the top 10% of households’ average disposable income grew at 2.7 times the rate of the bottom 10%.

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