The number of Americans sitting in jail without a conviction is larger than most other countries’ entire incarcerated population.
Staggering point that illustrates just how badly we need to act now if we would like to see change. One system connects to another. These people could be supporting their families or in the workforce supporting themselves. We are potentially creating an unnecessary hole that is too large for some families to climb out of.
et, every day we see homeless people arrested for sleeping outside; parents who can’t afford to purchase their release from jail; and people who cycle in and out of jail because they can’t afford to pay old fines as their debt grows from new ones. Meanwhile, cities and counties fill their coffers from the fines and fees that are imposed on people who are struggling just to survive.
Punishing people who are the victims of income inequality by making it harder for them to get back on their feet.
American taxpayers pay $14 billion each year to incarcerate people pretrial.11
Our tax dollars!
Moreover, the financial costs that this system generates are staggering.
Capitalizing on the poor and disenfranchised. Corporations are getting money, while many more individuals pay for it. People at the top stay at the top. Especially through continuing these cycles.
They feel enormous pressure to accept an unjust or wrongful conviction just to go home.9 And, as with all other areas of the criminal legal system, people of color bear a far heavier burden due to an enduring legacy of racism and economic disenfranchisement.10
COntinuous. All laws and policies have affects.
People who are jailed pretrial often wait months, and sometimes years, for their cases to resolve. In the meantime, they can lose their jobs, homes, children, and critical community ties.5 Inside jail, people risk sexual violence,6 the deterioration of their mental and physical health,7 and the infliction of lasting trauma.8
Financial and emotional burden
They are presumed innocent under the law, yet they will suffer the harms of incarceration unless they have enough money to pay bail and buy their freedom. This two-tier system criminalizes poverty and is a structural linchpin of mass incarceration3 and racial inequality.4 It affects entire communities, devastates families for generations, and guts the presumption of innocence.
These policies are completely legal, yet they continue to push systems of oppression forward. Our solutions for helping to end income inequality need to address that a lot of it is perpetuated by cycles of inequity that need to be fixed.
wealth persist across racial groups.
EXAMINE THE SYSTEMS WHICH HELP TO ENFORCE THIS RACIAL INCOME DIVIDE! Most relate. Fixing these systems could help to bridge the income gap between racial groups. Even laws so ingrained in us.
stock market’s performance as a signal of success, but the data reinforce that it does not speak to how many Americans are doing financially.
Stock market doing well does not necessarily translate to lots of low income people improving their finances. Nevertheless, there is more money circulating which is very important.
“So here I am stuck without a job again and floundering, trying to figure out what my next career will be,” she said.
There are lots of people who cannot afford to wait the virus out. They have to get into a new line of work, which usually takes lots of time and energy. Almost as if there were massive layoffs (which there also were.) Some cannot physically go back into their old professions in any form.
The bill collectors that she thought she had shaken are already hounding her again.
Cycle
Economists worry that progress for disadvantaged workers has probably reversed in recent months as the pandemic-related shutdowns threw millions of people out of work. The crisis has especially cost minority and less-educated employees, who are more likely to work in high-interaction jobs at restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. Inequality appears to be poised to widen as lower earners fare the worst.
Crornavirus affects on income inequality
Even modest housing deregulation, such as upzoning to allow taller structures, can substantially increase the supply of housing in the most prosperous areas of the country. This promotes economic migration to these areas, which can reduce poverty and inequality by giving lower-income workers greater access to higher-wage labor markets.
Very important. Housing is a contributor to income inequality and this section proposes a nice possible solution for one part of the issue.