Social Inequality: Life Chances and Power

What is social inequality?

Social inequality is the unequal sharing of rewards and resources between groups: income, wealth, health, education, status and power. It is social because it comes from how society is organised, not from nature or luck alone. It follows patterns of class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability. Sociologists often use stratification for the way society is layered into higher and lower groups.

Life chances

Life chances (Max Weber) are a person's chances of getting the good things in life: good health, a long life, a good education, a safe home, a well-paid secure job, and fair treatment by police and courts. They are chances, not certainties: some people beat the odds, but the averages differ a lot between groups.

Differences by class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability

• Class: richer groups have higher life expectancy, better exam results and university entry, safer jobs and better housing. Poorer groups face more illness, pollution and insecure work.
• Gender: women earn less on average (the gender pay gap), do more unpaid care work and are fewer in top jobs; men die younger on average and are more likely to be victims of violent crime and to be in prison.
• Ethnicity: some minority groups face higher unemployment, lower pay and racism at work and in housing; others do very well in education, so groups differ.
• Age: young people face lower pay and insecure jobs; very old people may face poverty and ageism; middle-aged people often hold the most income and power.
• Disability: disabled people are less likely to be in paid work and more likely to be poor, often because buildings, transport and jobs are not adapted (the social model of disability).

These factors combine: an older disabled woman from a poor family may face several disadvantages at once.

Power and authority

Power (Weber): the ability to carry out your will even if others resist. Authority is power people see as legitimate. Weber named three types: traditional (custom, such as a monarch or village elder), charismatic (personal qualities of a leader) and rational-legal (rules and elected offices, such as a judge or prime minister). Coercion is power by force.

• Gender gap: fewer women in parliaments, cabinets and company boards; in some families men control money and decisions (patriarchy, as feminists call it).
• Age gap: children cannot vote; young people are under-represented; very old people may lose control over their lives in care.
• Ethnicity gap: some ethnic groups are under-represented among MPs, judges, senior police and CEOs.

Theories: why inequality exists

• Functionalists (Davis and Moore): inequality motivates the most able people to train for important jobs, so it helps society.
• Marxists: inequality comes from the ruling class owning the means of production and exploiting workers.
• Weberians: inequality has many sources: class (market position), status (respect) and party (power).
• Feminists: patriarchy keeps women's life chances and power lower.

Changes in inequality

Some gaps have narrowed: equal pay and anti-discrimination laws, women's rights to vote and own property, more girls in higher education, disability access laws, and reserved seats for women and disadvantaged groups in some countries (such as India). The world share of women MPs rose from a few per cent in the 1950s to about a quarter by the mid-2020s.

Other gaps remain or grow: the gender pay gap has shrunk but not closed; wealth has become more concentrated in many countries since the 1980s; young people face high housing costs. Sociologists debate whether we are moving towards equality or whether inequality is only changing its form.

Try it

Pick a job you would like. Find out the share of women, and of people from different backgrounds, in that job in your country. Compare with their share of the population. In the 3D, slide through the years and note when the gap shrinks fastest.

Key formulas and definitions

• Social inequality: unequal share of rewards between groups
• Life chances (Weber): chances of health, education, income, long life
• Power: getting your way against resistance
• Authority: legitimate power (traditional, charismatic, rational-legal)
• Five patterns: class, gender, ethnicity, age, disability
• Gender pay gap = (men's average pay − women's) ÷ men's average pay × 100%

Worked examples

Common mistakes

• Saying life chances decide everything. They are chances, not fixed fate.
• Treating power and authority as the same. Authority is power that people accept as legitimate.
• Writing about only one factor. Class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability often combine.
• Saying inequality has ended because laws exist. Laws reduce gaps but data show many remain.