The strong correlation between inequality and social problems begs the question of what needs to be done to solve some of the nation's most difficult problems. Many analysts are now documenting the increasing inequality characterizing the nation in the early 21st century. Should inequality grow, it is predictable that social problems will increase.

Some policies for change may only exacerbate the problems of social inequality. In education, for example, new programs, such as vouchers, charter schools, and school choice, that are intended to improve educational quality, may only increase racial and class segregation in schooling. Welfare reform, legislated to encourage work and reduce the alleged dependency of women on welfare, has unintended consequences that reproduce inequality. Welfare rolls have been reduced, but poverty has increased; more women formerly on welfare have become employed but in low-wage jobs that have not improved their economic status. And without state support, many have also lost the related benefits--such as subsidized housing, food stamps, child care, and health care--that would otherwise serve them. Thus, while welfare "dependency" may be perceived as less of a problem, homelessness and the impoverishment of women and their children may be worse than ever.

Social changes addressing social problems can come from the "bottom up" through community organizing and grassroots mobilization. Change can also come from the "top down," through state-based action, legal and policy reform, or the application of social services. Either way, thinking about the impact of change on different social groups is a fundamental part of addressing social problem reform. Comprehensive social change engages fundamental questions of national values and the collective commitment to serving all of a nation's people. Where is the balance between values of individual freedom and collective social justice? How can a nation maintain individual freedom to pursue economic success while also supporting a social contract to support the nation's citizenry? Although such value-laden questions are not typically those asked by sociologists researching social problems, they are nonetheless an important component of thinking about the connection between social problems and inequality. It is unlikely that this connection will be severed, but reducing its impact can become more of a national priority.

Bibliography:

1) Andersen, Margaret L. 2008. Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender. 8th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

2) Ferguson, Ann Arnett. 2001. Bad Boys: Public Schools and the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

3) Fleury-Steiner, Benjamin Doy. 2004. Jurors' Stories of Death: How America's Death Penalty Invests in Inequality. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

4) Hays, Sharon. 2004. Flat Broke with Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

5) Kennelly, Ivy. 1999. "'That Single-Mother Element': How White Employers Typify Black Women." Gender & Society 13(April):168-92.

6) Kozol, Jonathan. 1992. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. New York: Harper.

7) Kozol, Jonathan. 2006. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. New York: Three Rivers.

8) Lewis, Amanda. 2003. Race in the Schoolyard: Negotiating the Color Line in Classrooms and Communities. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

9) Pellow, David. 2002. Garbage Wars: The Struggle for Environmental Justice in Chicago. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

10) Reiman, Jeffrey. 2006. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison. 8th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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