Social equity

Social equity is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy. Since the 1960s, the concept of social equity has been used in a variety of institutional contexts, including education and public administration.

Equity within a society is different from social equality and takes into account the individual differences that people may have when seeking an equal outcome. For example, person A may have no difficulty walking, person B may be able to walk but with some difficulty, whilst person C may be unable to walk at all. Equality would be providing each of those three people with the same opportunities or aids. Per our example, if persons A, B, and C receive a wheelchair, this is a form of equality. Equity, on the other hand, would look different from equality because it would instead cater to each individual's differing needs. For the same example, person A may not receive any aids, person B may receive a walking stick, whilst person C may receive an electric wheelchair.