inequality

1. 1. The condition of being unequal.
   2. An instance of being unequal.
2. 1. Lack of equality, as of opportunity, treatment, or status.
   2. Social or economic disparity: the growing inequality between rich and poor.
3. Lack of smoothness or regularity; unevenness.
4. Variability; changeability.
5. Mathematics. An algebraic relation showing that a quantity is greater than or less than another quantity.
6. Astronomy. A deviation from uniformity in the motion of a celestial body.

noun

1. The condition or fact of being unequal, as in age, rank, or degree: disparity, disproportion, disproportionateness. See same/different/compare.
2. Lack of smoothness or regularity: asymmetry, crookedness, irregularity, jaggedness, roughness, unevenness. See smooth/rough, straight/bent.

Definition: prejudice; lack of balance
Antonyms: balance, equality, evenness, similarity

Disproportionate opportunities or rewards for different individuals or groups the OECD countries in society. The increase in income inequality within the member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development since the mid-1970s has been attributed to reductions in income tax, the deregulation of capital and labour markets, rapid technological change, and globalization.

As income inequalities have increased, so have spatial variations in income; within the UK, mean household incomes in Greater London are 50% higher than in the North region, but the biggest income inequalities occur at postcode level. Some argue that inequality is good for the economy, citing high income taxes and over-regulation as disincentives to initiative; others that large disparities in income are economically inefficient, and potentially politically damaging.

Geographers are concerned with the spatial expression of inequality, whether it relates to gender, social class, or ethnicity, and study its causes (for example, See cumulative causation), its consequences, such as migration from poorer to richer regions (Mezzogiorno to northern Italy, ‘South’ to ‘North’), and the remedial measures taken by governments to redress inequality. See territorial justice.

For more information on inequality, visit Britannica.com.

Quotes:

"The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them, high or lowly, and ordered their estate." - Cecil F. Alexander

"When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" - John Ball

"We accept and welcome... as conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment; the concentration of business, industrial and commercial, in the hands of a few; and the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential for the future progress of the race." - Andrew Carnegie

"My grandma (rest her soul) used to say, There were but two families in the world, have-much and have-little." - Miguel De Cervantes

"The very existence of government at all, infers inequality. The citizen who is preferred to office becomes the superior to those who are not, so long as he is the repository of power, and the child inherits the wealth of the parent as a controlling law of society." - James F. Cooper

"Two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets. The rich and the poor." - Benjamin Disraeli

See more famous quotes about Inequality

Dansk (Danish)
n. - ulighed, uoverensstemmelse, uregelmæssighed

Nederlands (Dutch)
ongelijkheid, ongelijkmatigheid, oneffenheid, discriminatie

Français (French)
n. - (gén, Math) inégalité, variabilité

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ungleichheit, Veränderlichkeit, Unebenheit, Ungleichung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ανισότητα

Italiano (Italian)
disuguaglianza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - desigualdade (f)

Русский (Russian)
неравенство, несходство, неровность, несостоятельность

Español (Spanish)
n. - desigualdad, injusticia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - olikhet, ojämlikhet, otillräcklighet, inkompetens, ojämnhet, ombytlighet, avvikelse (astron.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
不均等, 不平衡, 不平等, 不平坦

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 不均等, 不平衡, 不平等, 不平坦

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 불평등, 부적당, 균차, 부등식

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 不同, 不平等, 不公平, 変動, 不等式, でこぼこ, 起伏, 不均衡

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تباين, عدم مساواة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אי שוויון, אי מישוריות, פער, הבדל‬

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