Working with Diversity: Addressing Social Inequality in the Pandemic

This article discusses the impact of the pandemic on social inequality and explores ways to address it. It covers government policies, research findings, and theories related to working with diversity. The article also provides insights on reducing discrimination, providing earning opportunities, and promoting fairness in society.

Working with Diversity.
1

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................3
2. Illustrating working with diversity .............................................................................................3
3. Theory into practice.....................................................................................................................5
4. Critical analysis and discussion...................................................................................................6
5. REFLECTION AND CONCLUSION ......................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
2

1. INTRODUCTION
Working with diversity is maintaining harmony in the society and respecting people of
different age, gender, religion, race, social class etc. In the current scenario when the pandemic
has hit the world so severely and the situation is so critical and lakhs of people are being affected
by the same (S. James, 2017). Governments and other health organizations and doctors are
suggesting to be in house and restricting the movement of people but in this case also many
people have to move out and work to earn their breads. This pandemic has caused a divide in
society and highlighted social class. Due to this pandemic many issues have come up and social
inequality is one of them. The people with less resources, lower economic condition have greater
chances of being infected and also they suffer more brutality from doctors and cops. People with
strong financial condition and good social class have many options and facilities.
A case is being discussed below to understand the way pandemic has caused a divide in society
and highlighted social class. Mr X belongs to upper class which means he is rich, powerful or
well-born. These people control most of the wealth and power in British society. Mr Y belongs
to middle class as it has greater educational achievements and have good status in the society.
Mr. Z belongs to lower class which is an ethnic minority group as it has low levels of
educational qualification, and they have a tough job to do. In the current situation when the
pandemic have adversely hit the world and with that the bad side of social inequality has also
been highlighted. As Mr X belongs to upper class can afford not ton work and shift to other
places to avoid the spread of the virus and can also follow all the regulations imposed by the
government but in case of Mr Y they can also remain in their homes for sometime and can work
from home and earn their living but Mr Z who earns daily and their earning depends upon the
work being done on the daily basis have to move out and work.
2. Illustrating working with diversity
Government policy
Uk government making new policies in pandemic to reduce the inequality among the
social class. Government is supporting the lower class and instead of penalizing them they are
supporting this sections by providing them healthcare facilities and other support like groceries
for running their households.
3

Government has also made policy regarding providing facility of beds and places for quarantine
to disadvantage sections for convenience. Government policy in pandemic amounts to reducing
or cancelling the tax liabilities. Also, they have extended the repayment period of loan for
middle and lower class. Also, local authorities are advised to provide food package to lower
class and disadvantage section.
Research
Regarding the case being discussed in this report, researches have been undertaken in various
areas such as :
 Social and behavioural science was used to support Covid-19 pandemic(Using social and
behavioural science to support Covid-19 pandemic response . 2020).
 A research was conducted in Europe and it was found out that the lower income class the
one of the most disadvantage groups in terms of healthcare access .
 Also, a research was conducted in UK and US and it was found out that the death rates
due to Covid-19 is higher in lower class compared to the upper.
Theory of social class
The theory of social class was given by Karl Marx, and he has divided the social class mainly
into two divisions firstly the workers and labour who work and secondly the owners or the
possession of the property (Vidal.and et.al., 2019). But after that it was divided into other classes
as well. The following are discussed below:
Bourgeoisie or capitalist - These people are the owners of huge capitals and these people
employ labour to create more capital, profit, interest etc. As per the case study Mr Z who
belongs to the upper class and have more power and financial resources than others comes in this
category.
Proletariat – These are people who have talent, can work and have no other resources.
These workers do not have capital resource and are being paid for their special services by the
capitalist. As per the case Mr Y belongs to this class.
Transitional – These people have enough means of production, but they do not buy
labour power, and they are also known as small capitalists.
Dangerous class – These people come in the lower class and also known as social scum.
They do not have any type of resources and does small work.
4

3. Theory into practice
Specific objectives
Reduce discrimination based on social class – First objective is to reduce the
difference between the upper class and lower class which has caused due to pandemic the
division has been seen at a very greater extent. As upper class have adequate resources as
compared to the lower class therefore efforts are to be made to reduce discrimination based on
this class.
Providing earning opportunity to lower class – During this hard time of pandemic
another objective is to provide earning opportunities to the disadvantage class so that they can
earn for the living (Adedoyin. and Soykan, 2020). As many upper class people are firing due to
fear of Covid-19.
To reduce illegal practices – Because of pandemic there are many classes which are not
able to make a living and this leads them to do illegal acts and indulge in wrong practices.
Giving people an option of home from home and other facilities – In this hard times
the organization must understand the seriousness and provide the employees with an option of
working from home and also providing resources which help them to work from home if they
are not having the same.
Something are in place but few things are needed to be developed such as :
During the pandemic many policies and laws are been created by the government to
helps the weaker section and upper classes are not been impacted so severely. Also the lower
classes are being provided various facilities and subsidies but the ones which are impacted much
are the middle class as many firms during this pandemic have been shut down and people
working there have become jobless. Healthcare facilitates are provided to lower class free of cost
and the upper class is not impacted by the treatment cost but the middle class have to pay the
price for treatment and services and also due to pandemic they many have lost their jobs (Nicola.
and et.al., 2020). Food packages are also provided by several NGOs and government to help the
lower class. Government is also providing extension of loan and repayment period.
All these issues and objectives can be achieved by levying tax on upper class for
healthcare facilities and medicine related to pandemic, providing equal health facility and free up
services for lower class. Giving middle class an opportunity to work from home and providing
5

resources people belonging to the lower class who do not have enough resources to work from
home is also a solution to achieve the objectives. Making upper class people aware to take
precautions rather than avoiding people to work in their homes that belong to lower class. Also
the government can launch schemes to provide basic food to lower class so that they do not
starve and do not indulge in illegal practices.
Client agency in CMM practices can be ensured by setting clear goals, understanding the client
better and working together. The progress and results are then reported and promises are
delivered.
4. Critical analysis and discussion
The core values that are relevant in the case of division of society because of pandemic
are :
Compassion – The first value is to show compassion by the upper class to the lower
class and taking actions to help them in this hard times of pandemic. Showing kindness and
compassion to the less fortunate people and not firing them just out of fear but instead taking
precautions and also making the workers aware about the same (O’Connell. and et.al 2020). It is
a bad time of all the classes but it is worse for the lower class as they do nit have adequate
resources therefore the upper class which has resources can extend a hand of kindness and help
the lower class.
Fairness – The second value to reduce or eliminate the social inequality the government
can provide the disadvantage section free healthcare facility and medicine to sustain this
pandemic. Even if the lower class does not have the finance or money to pay for the treatment
the government should make provision for free services to these section. As the people who do
not have enough resources are also right to live and this determines fairness on the part of
government.
Respecting people of every class – The third value is to respect the person of all the
classes and do not discriminate based on their financial and social status. This pandemic has
greatly affected everyone whether upper class, middle class or lower class therefore providing
equal facility and opportunity to all the classes of the society is a way of showing respect to
them.
The way in which these values were balanced, affected by the following features of the case:
6

Cultural sensitivity – Due to lack of cultural sensitivity the values of compassion and
fairness is not practised at the time of pandemic. People's lack of understanding different
cultures and behaviours of different people in the society restricts them to show compassion and
fairness (Eikhof, 2020). Most of the people, organization and even government are insensitive
towards people of lower class.
Discrimination – It is one of the main features of unbalanced values such as compassion
and fairness. Due to discrimination based on upper, middle and lower class there is lack of
fairness in giving healthcare facilities and other facilities in the time of Covid-19. Also, due to
this discrimination people do not respect the lower class. And because of this pandemic also
have forced the people to discriminate as people of lower class work and comes in contact with
many people therefore because of fear they are being discriminated.
Social Stigma – Due to social stigma related to corona virus many people are restricting
themselves to show compassion, fairness and respect to the lower class. As these lower class of
the society maintain less hygiene therefore the upper class because of this stigma practice less
compassion and do not treat the people of lower class equally (Bagcchi, 2020). In this situation
of pandemic best facilities are provided to the people of upper class and compassion is showed
towards them compared to the lower class people.
5. REFLECTION AND CONCLUSION
To address the equality, non-discrimination and fairness extra facilities must be provided
to lower class of the society. As social inequality occurs due to uneven distribution of resources
in the society therefore to equalized extra facilities and services are provided to the lower class.
Various norms and laws must be formed to reduce the discrimination and unfairness and
penalties must be imposed upon the people are organization who do not follow the same. As
equality in the society reduces the crime rates and also the sense of happiness and satisfaction is
reduced among the lower class. The well-being of the people belonging to the disadvantage
section of the society is harmed. The upper class is able to afford the healthcare services in the
pandemic and if hospitals only treat people based on the class then the lower class does not gets
the coronavirus treatment. Therefore, many steps are been taken to reduce the discrimination and
efforts are made to maintain the fairness in the pandemic situation because this can lead to lower
economic condition. As due to this pandemic the lower and middle class are the most suffered
7

section and exposed to coronavirus and joblessness. And all this results in increasing crimes and
reduction in well-being of middle and lower class. All these reflect the social, moral, cultural and
religious values of the society in the way different classes show the compassion, working skills,
co-operation done by them, their heritage, the way they respect different cultures etc.
I have learned many things from this case study such as the way pandemic has affected the
society and the gaps with are clearly seen between the upper, middle and lower class. This
division of society can be reduced and loopholes of the schemes can be identified and also my
researching skills have been enhanced. Also, I came to know about different issues that the
middle and lower classes are facing and also various ways are determined by which these issues
can be resolved. Various objectives are developed to lower the inequality in terms of classes
during the pandemic period and solutions are derived for achieving them.
8

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Adedoyin, O.B. and Soykan, E., 2020. Covid-19 pandemic and online learning: the challenges
and opportunities. Interactive Learning Environments. pp.1-13.
Bagcchi, S., 2020. Stigma during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet. Infectious
Diseases. 20(7). p.782.
Eikhof, D.R., 2020. COVID-19, inclusion and workforce diversity in the cultural economy: what
now, what next?. Cultural Trends. 29(3). pp.234-250.
Nicola, M. and et.al., 2020. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic
(COVID-19): A review. International journal of surgery (London, England). 78. p.185.
O’Connell, M. and et.al 2020. Midwives in a pandemic: A call for solidarity and
compassion. Women and Birth. 33(3). pp.205-206.
S. James, M., 2017. Feeling the Problem: Working through Diversity
Work. Transformations. 27(2). pp.217-228.
Vidal, M.and et.al., 2019. The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx. Oxford University Press.
Online
Using social and behavioural science to support Covid-19 pandemic response . 2020.[Online].
Accessed Through:<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-0884-z>
9