Cambridge IGCSE Sociology: Reducing Inequality and Global Inequality (0495)

How have societies tried to reduce inequality, and how has globalisation changed inequality between countries? These are key questions 3.2 and 3.3 of Cambridge IGCSE Sociology (0495), the last part of the Social stratification and inequality topic in Paper 1. You need to know the main attempts — legislation, welfare states and the global work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — and sociological criticisms of them, then explain how migration, ecological issues and theories of exploitation help explain global inequality.

Key question 3.1 (what stratification is) is covered in the Paper 1 overview guide.

Syllabus coverage

Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 (2025–2027):

• 3.2 What attempts have been made to reduce social inequalities? — 3.2.1 legislation (progressive taxation, redistribution of wealth through benefits, a minimum wage, equal opportunities laws, other government measures); 3.2.2 welfare states (free and/or universal education, unemployment benefits, pensions, low-cost housing, free healthcare, universal basic income); 3.2.3 the global work of NGOs (reducing poverty, medical assistance, promoting business, improving education); 3.2.4 sociological views of success (New Right criticisms of the welfare state and the underclass, the culture of poverty and dependency culture, Marxist criticisms of the welfare state, criticisms of NGOs, feminist criticisms of equality legislation).
• 3.3 How has globalisation affected inequalities between societies? — 3.3.1 migration (immigration/emigration, push and pull factors, increasing cultural diversity, economic consequences, negative perceptions of migrants); 3.3.2 global ecological issues (influence of transnational companies, climate change, pollution, urbanisation); 3.3.3 explanations (Marxist views of capitalist exploitation, colonialism, feminist ideas of patriarchy).

How can laws reduce inequality? (3.2.1)

Measure	How it reduces inequality
Progressive taxation	Higher earners pay a higher percentage of income in tax
Redistribution through benefits	Tax revenue is paid to low-income groups
Minimum wage	Sets a legal floor for pay, protecting the lowest paid
Equal opportunities laws	Make discrimination by sex, ethnicity, disability or age illegal in work and services
Other measures	Conditional cash transfers, job guarantees, quotas

Examples from different societies: Brazil’s Bolsa Família (from 2003) paid poor families on condition that children attended school and had health checks; India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005) guaranteed rural households a number of days of paid work each year.

What is a welfare state? (3.2.2)

A welfare state is a system in which the government provides services and benefits to protect citizens’ life chances “from cradle to grave”. In Britain the Beveridge Report (1942) led to the National Health Service, founded in 1948, alongside national insurance benefits.

Provision	Effect on life chances
Free and/or universal education	Opportunity for social mobility
Unemployment benefits	Protection from poverty when out of work
Pensions	Income in old age
Low-cost housing	Secure homes for low-income families
Free healthcare	Health care regardless of ability to pay
Universal basic income	A regular payment to everyone, without conditions; tested in trials such as Finland’s 2017–2018 experiment with unemployed people

How do NGOs work globally? (3.2.3)

NGOs are non-profit organisations independent of governments. Examples of their work: reducing poverty (cash transfers and food aid); providing medical assistance — Médecins Sans Frontières delivers emergency health care in conflict and disaster zones; promoting business — microcredit lending, associated with Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize; improving education — building schools, training teachers and supporting girls’ schooling. BRAC, founded in Bangladesh in 1972, combines all four.

Have these attempts succeeded? (3.2.4)

View	Argument
New Right	Generous welfare discourages work and family responsibility and creates an underclass; Charles Murray (Losing Ground, 1984)
Culture of poverty / dependency culture	Oscar Lewis’s studies of poor families in Mexico and Puerto Rico (1959, 1966) described values of fatalism passed between generations; dependency culture is the idea that people come to rely on benefits
Marxist	The welfare state only softens capitalism’s worst effects, preventing revolt and keeping workers healthy enough to be exploited; wealth inequality remains
Criticisms of NGOs	Can create dependency, are accountable to donors rather than local people, may impose Western priorities, and are too small to change structural causes
Feminist	Equality laws have not closed the gender pay gap; women still do most unpaid care; laws treat symptoms not patriarchy

Evaluation: supporters point to reduced absolute poverty and longer life expectancy where welfare and NGO programmes operate; critics show inequality between rich and poor remains large.

How does migration affect inequality? (3.3.1)

• Immigration is moving into a country; emigration is leaving one.
• Push factors: poverty, unemployment, conflict, persecution, natural disasters.
• Pull factors: jobs, higher wages, safety, education, family.
• Cultural diversity increases in receiving societies.
• Economic consequences: receiving countries gain workers and taxes; sending countries receive remittances but may lose skilled workers (brain drain).
• Negative perceptions of migrants include stereotyping, scapegoating and racism, often amplified by media.

How do global ecological issues affect inequality? (3.3.2)

• Transnational companies (TNCs) bring jobs and investment but may exploit cheap labour, weak regulation and natural resources.
• Climate change harms poorer countries most (drought, flooding, crop failure) even though richer countries have produced more emissions.
• Pollution from mining, factories and waste often affects poor communities.
• Urbanisation — rapid growth of cities can create informal settlements without safe water or sanitation.

What explains global inequality? (3.3.3)

• Marxist views of capitalist exploitation: global capitalism moves wealth from poorer to richer countries through cheap labour, raw materials and profit-taking.
• Colonialism: colonial powers extracted resources and shaped economies around exports, leaving lasting disadvantage.
• Feminist ideas of patriarchy: women do much of the world’s work but own a small share of its property and are more likely to be poor; globalisation may increase exploitation of women’s labour.

Frequently asked questions

Is the welfare state the same in every country? No. Provision varies widely; some countries have universal services, others only targeted support.

What is the difference between New Right and Marxist criticisms? The New Right says welfare does too much and creates dependency; Marxists say it does too little to challenge capitalist inequality.

How should I link migration to inequality? Explain who gains and who loses — migrants, receiving countries and sending countries — and show that outcomes are unequal.

Sources

• Cambridge International, Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 syllabus for 2025, 2026 and 2027, key questions 3.2 and 3.3.
• Policies, organisations and studies are named with dates in the text.

Related pages: reducing inequality and globalisation revision notes | reducing inequality and globalisation practice questions | Paper 1 revision notes