Unit 2 Topic 2: Inequality

Subject matter

Topic 2: Inequality

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• Describe key concepts using economic terminology, including absolute and relative poverty, egalitarian society, income, transfer payments, wealth, and the welfare state.

• Describe a range of measures and indicators of inequality, e.g. the Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, Henderson poverty lines, household income, mean and medium income, and equivalence scales.

• Explain the causes of inequality of income and wealth in Australia (e.g. educational attainment, employment status, gender, age, occupation, ethnic background, uneven distribution of factors of production, and family structure) and other factors that impact particular groups in society, e.g. Australian Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples, migrants, and people living with disabilities.

• Select data and information from sources that offer evidence of the consequences of inequality in Australia and examine these sources to appreciate their underlying assumptions and perspectives.

• Analyse and evaluate inequality issues, e.g.

  • -  the private and social costs and benefits of pursuing a redistribution of income and wealth,

    e.g. taxation, transfer payments, subsidisation of merit goods and other assistance

  • -  government strategies and/or interventions to address inequality and measures aimed at alleviating inequality and improving living standards, e.g. taxation, transfer payments, subsidising of merit goods and other assistance.

• Create responses that communicate economic meaning using data, information, graphs and diagrams in paragraphs and extended responses to suit the intended purpose.