Income Inequality and Urban Social Well-Being in Faisalabad: Evidence from Social Stratification, Access to Basic Needs and Residential Segregation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jssr.v6i4.757Keywords:
Income Inequality, Urban Social Well-Being, Social Stratification, Basic Needs, Social Relations, Residential Segregation, Faisalabad, PakistanAbstract
Income inequality is an important socio-economic phenomenon affecting social relationships, psychological welfare, access to resources and organization of urban community. The present research explored the perceived relationship between urban social well-being and income inequality in Faisalabad. Universe of this study urban areas of Khurrianwala and Jaranwala. It employed a descriptive cross-sectional research design. A sample of 120 respondents were selected for the collection of primary data. A structured questionnaire was designed to gather relevant information from 60 participants chosen from each study area. The perceptions of the respondents were examined using descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages. The inferential statistics (Pearson's Chi-square and One-Way ANOVA) were applied for inferential analysis. Findings of the research highlight that income inequality is positively correlated with social stratification, unequal opportunities, weakened social interaction, restricted access to basic needs, psychological pressure and residential segregation as a statistically significant association between monthly income and access to basic needs, χ² (6, N = 120) = 14.582, p = .024 were shown by the Pearson’s Chi-square test. Moreover, a statistically significant difference in perceptions of social stratification across education levels, F (4,115) = 5.41, p = .001 was also revealed by One-Way ANOVA. The study concluded that inequality in income had multidimensional social impacts and needed a combination of interventions to promote equity in education, health, housing, employment, social protection and balanced urban development.
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