INTRODUCTION

Socio-economic inequality is a major issue in the twenty-first century. This can be seen in the rapid rise of the Occupy movement which aims to mobilise the poorest 99% of the population to fight against socio-economic inequality and the political system that has allowed itself to be monopolised by the richest 1% to further their interests at the expense of the 99%. This resulted in protests in over 500 cities across the world.

This brought the issue of socio-economic inequality starkly on to the political agenda and thus led to governments across the developed world introducing a range of measures aimed at improving this persistent form of inequality. This is particularly true of successive British governments who have sought to address socio-economic inequality primarily via the Child Poverty Act 2010 and various different policies (such as the Child Poverty Strategy and Social Mobility policies). At the same time, at the European level, action has been taken in the form of the Open Method of Coordination on Social Exclusion. This chapter argues that for a variety of reasons these have had limited impact. However there are various legal mechanisms currently being utilised in other countries (that is socio-economic rights and prohibiting discrimination on grounds of social condition). It will be argued that these are more capable of addressing socio-economic inequality and thus should be adopted. The chapter will begin by outlining what constitutes socio-economic inequality and illustrating to what extent it is a problem within the UK. It will then go on to assess the current mechanisms introduced to address it, before illustrating how socio-economic rights and extending equality law to cover social condition would be more able to fully address socio-economic inequality.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITY

Socio-economic inequality consists of three interlinked concepts: economic inequality, class and poverty. All aspects need to be addressed if socio-economic inequality is to be successfully tackled.

ECONOMIC INEQUALITY

Economic inequality concerns the difference in economic resources between individuals (particularly differences in individual salaries and holdings of capital). In the UK the top 1% of earners receive 15% of income. This is high internationally, with only the USA having higher income inequality. Although income inequality is high, these inequalities ‘seem mild, moderate, and almost reasonable’ compared to inequalities with respect to capital.