As You Sow, So Shall You Reap: Organizations and Economic Inequality

Abstract

The 2019 report by the U.S. Census Bureau noted that income inequality in the United States reached its highest level since the Census Bureau started tracking it in 1967 (Semega et al. 2019). Income inequality, reasured as the Gini Index, was 0.397 in 1967 but climbed to 0.485 in 2018 (Semega et al. 2019). What might be disappointing to most U.S. workers is the fact that despite very low unemployment rates, the real median household income has not changed significantly over the past decade. The bottom line is that wealth gains go predominantly to those already at the top. The rising gap between rich and poor is a growing global concern on par with such issues as discrimination, social justice and climate change. Although economic inequality penetrated collective social conscience after the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, action came at a slower pace. But, several candidates for Democratic nomination in the 2020 U.S. presidential election include growing income inequality as a significant national issue in their platforms. Similarly, business leaders have begun to take steps to deal with related issues, such as the gender pay gap. In one of the most visible actions related to this issue, Melinda Gates has committed $1 billion to promote gender equality (Gates 2019).