What does a minimum wage do?

sets the lowest hourly pay allowed by law. It protects the lowest-paid workers.

What is redistribution of wealth?

using taxes to move resources from the better off to those in need. Taxes pay for benefits and services.

What do equal opportunities laws do?

make discrimination illegal. They cover areas such as jobs, pay and housing.

Which is a criticism of the minimum wage?

employers may cut jobs, and it may still be too low to live on. Critics come from both directions.

Person A earns $20 000 and pays $2000 in tax. Person B earns $100 000 and pays $10 000. Is this system progressive?

no, because both pay the same percentage, 10%. A progressive tax takes a higher percentage from higher earners.

Laws to reduce inequality · Cambridge IGCSE Sociology

In plain words

Governments have tools for narrowing the gap between top and bottom: take more from those who have most, top up those who have least, and make unfair treatment illegal. How well the tools work is one of the liveliest arguments in politics.

7 things to know

Progressive taxation: people with higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their income in tax than people with lower incomes.
The redistribution of wealth through benefits: money raised in taxes is paid to those in need, such as families with children, people with disabilities and the unemployed.
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay that the law allows. It raises the income of the lowest-paid workers.
Equal opportunities laws make it illegal to discriminate against people on grounds such as gender, ethnicity, disability, age or religion, in jobs, pay, education and housing.
Other government measures include free school meals, scholarships, help with the cost of childcare, and reserved places or quotas for disadvantaged groups.
Strengths: these measures reduce poverty, give legal protection, and signal that discrimination is not acceptable.
Limitations: laws are hard to enforce, and discrimination is hard to prove. Attitudes change slowly. The wealthy find ways to avoid tax. Critics say a minimum wage can lead employers to cut jobs, and that it may still be too low to live on.

Worked example

In a country, income up to $10 000 is taxed at 10%, and income above that at 30%. Calculate the tax on $10 000 and on $50 000, and explain why the system is progressive.

On $10 000: 10% of 10 000 = $1000, which is 10% of income.
On $50 000: 10% of the first 10 000 = $1000, and 30% of the other 40 000 = $12 000. Total = $13 000.
$13 000 is 26% of $50 000.
The higher earner pays a larger percentage of income, which is what makes the tax progressive.

Tips and tricks

Progressive taxation is about the percentage, not the amount. Under a flat tax the rich also pay more money. Under a progressive tax they pay a higher share.
For any law, give its limitation as well: "equal pay laws exist, but a pay gap between men and women remains".

5 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Laws to reduce inequality: 5 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What does a minimum wage do?
- limits the pay of the highest earners
- sets the lowest hourly pay allowed by law (the answer)
- pays the unemployed
- taxes the wealthy
It protects the lowest-paid workers.
What is redistribution of wealth?
- using taxes to move resources from the better off to those in need (the answer)
- the rich investing abroad
- everyone keeping what they earn
- cutting all taxes
Taxes pay for benefits and services.
What do equal opportunities laws do?
- make discrimination illegal (the answer)
- guarantee everyone the same income
- abolish private schools
- set the rate of tax
They cover areas such as jobs, pay and housing.
Which is a criticism of the minimum wage?
- it is too hard to understand
- it applies only to the rich
- it reduces the pay of the lowest paid
- employers may cut jobs, and it may still be too low to live on (the answer)
Critics come from both directions.
Person A earns $20 000 and pays $2000 in tax. Person B earns $100 000 and pays $10 000. Is this system progressive?Stretch
- yes, because B pays more money
- yes, because A pays less money
- no, because both pay the same percentage, 10% (the answer)
- no, because B should pay nothing
A progressive tax takes a higher percentage from higher earners.

5 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Laws to reduce inequality

Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

What is meant by the term "progressive taxation"?[2]
Show answerHide answer
A tax system in which people on higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their income in tax.
I got this one
Describe two ways in which governments use legislation to reduce inequality.[4]
Show answerHide answer
Any two, each described: progressive taxation, where higher earners pay a larger share; benefits, which redistribute money to those in need; a minimum wage, which sets a lowest legal rate of pay; equal opportunities laws, which make discrimination illegal.
I got this one
Explain two reasons why equal opportunities laws may not end inequality.[4]
Show answerHide answer
Any two, each explained: discrimination is hard to prove, so few cases succeed; laws do not change people's attitudes and stereotypes; laws are not always enforced; inequalities such as unpaid care work lie outside what the law covers.
I got this one

Answers: Laws to reduce inequality

1. A tax system in which people on higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their income in tax.
2. Any two, each described: progressive taxation, where higher earners pay a larger share; benefits, which redistribute money to those in need; a minimum wage, which sets a lowest legal rate of pay; equal opportunities laws, which make discrimination illegal.
3. Any two, each explained: discrimination is hard to prove, so few cases succeed; laws do not change people's attitudes and stereotypes; laws are not always enforced; inequalities such as unpaid care work lie outside what the law covers.