[Image Source] (https://abcnews.go.com/International/150-million-people-set-fall-extreme-poverty-due/story?id=73497257)
This question is in response to a question posed by @macie.mcpeak:
The gap between those who live in areas with a high socioeconomic status (SES) and those who live in areas with a low SES is absolutely increasing, especially in the United States. In America, access to quality resources is allocated unevenly. Low SES areas are known to have limited access to education, healthcare, and food, in some cases. The most significant of those limits being education. Having a solid educational foundation allows individuals to work through their disadvantaged beginnings and begin to break the cycle of poverty. Many students are also reliant on their schools as a source of food. Whether that be through lunches or care packages sent home over the weekend, schools provide their community with the resources necessary to survive. Without the abundant amount of schools, as present in high SES areas, low SES areas become short on resources and are left to fend for themselves and often remain stuck in this perpetual cycle of limitation. As this limitation increases, high SES areas continue to thrive and gain more resources, increasing that gap between the two.
However, in other countries around the world, this increasing discrepancy between wealth of citizens is even more obvious, and arguably more dangerous. Specifically, clear distinctions between upper- and lower-class individuals in India have been seen for decades with many lower-class citizens known to be without shoes, shelter, and sufficient access to food and water. While this is similar to what is seen in the United States, it is experienced on a more severe level in India. In America, there are many homeless shelters or community programs designed to offer some assistance to those in need; we have homeless shelters, Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchens, food drives, etc. In India, there is not always enough funding to maintain these types of organizations and ensure everyone has access to the resources they need. As seen in America, these disadvantaged populations continue to have fewer resources while the upper-class citizens make more money and gain more resources. Once these trends are established, it is hard to break the cycle of poverty and close these gaps around the world.