Does inequality lead to poverty?

Poverty is caused by a lack of opportunity as well as a lack of developed ability. If there is an unequal chance of a baby growing up with good food, and with parents too tired and unhealthy to provide proper parenting, then that child will have an unequal opportunity for making the most of any education or facility in his or her environment.

If the environment for the poor has less fresh air, play equipment, educational facilities, then those living there have an unequal chance of developing favorable attitudes let alone healthy and well-educated adults. With all these less pleasant aspects, the adults will be less successful in life. Therefore, they are not likely to provide better for their children. Those children will then likely live in unfortunate circumstances. This circularity is the route from inequality to poverty.

Poverty is a social condition that is characterized by lack of resources to live a healthy life. There are so many causes of poverty known. Inequality is one important cause of poverty. It simply means when resources there are meant for a given society is distributed unevenly.

The inequality among people will make some people more superior over others and have more right to some things than others. This ensures a situation where some people are served with more opportunities than others. We have different types of inequality, social and economic inequality.

In economic inequality, the resources that are meant to be shared evenly are being shared unevenly, that's why top earners are earning more at the detriment of average earners who are getting no increment in their wages. When this inequality becomes too much, it will lead to impoverishment of average earners.