The Visual Display of (In)equality

Inequality is a hot topic in the media right now, and I’ve seen it come up again and again in social science courses, particularly those with a strong sociology or economics presence. You’ll notice a handful of inequality visualisations in the database – see Wealth Inequality (charts), Wealth Inequality in America (animated explainer video) and the World Inequality Database on Education (interactive).

I try to avoid placing too many US-centric visualisations in the database, as this site is primarily for the use of UK teachers, but I think we can learn something from a lot of the visualisations that are out there, covering American, global and city-specific inequality indicators.

The History of American Inequality

history-american-inequality

Source: The Washington Post

This one focuses specifically on America, and shows the changes in income inequality over time.

Gender Equality Indicators

world-bank-gender

Source: The World Bank

This one is a global view of gender inequality.

Inequality and New York’s Subway

inequality-ny-subway

Source: The New Yorker

This one has an interesting angle – it looks at lines on the New York subway, and traces income inequality across the distance of travel.

Lives on the Line

lives-on-the-line

Source: Mapping London

This one is similar to the above, in that it focuses on the lengths of subway lines – here, in London, but this time, we’re looking at child poverty and life expectancy.

Have you seen any inequality data visualisations that I should add to this list? Let me know in the comments!

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