Epätasaarvoon

Epätasaarvoon is the illative form of the Finnish noun epätasa-arvo, meaning inequality or disparity. In Finnish grammar, illative marks movement into a state, so epätasaarvoon denotes moving toward or entering a state of inequality. The term appears in discussions of social, economic, and political phenomena where outcomes are not evenly distributed.

Epätasa-arvo describes the uneven distribution of resources, opportunities, or rights among individuals or groups. In social science and public policy discourse, epätasaarvoon is used with verbs of change to express that a process or policy may lead to inequality, for example “muutos voi johtaa epätasa-arvoon” or “politiikka voi viedä yhteiskunnan epätasaarvoon.” The concept applies to economic inequality, educational access, healthcare, gender gaps, and regional disparities.

Etymology: epätasa-arvo combines the negation prefix ep- with tasas-arvo (equality), literally “not equal.” The illatiive form epätasa-arvoon expresses that change or movement toward inequality is being described. Related terms include tasa-arvo (equality) and eriarvoisuus (disparity or inequality in a broader sense).

See also: epätasa-arvo, tasa-arvo, eriarvoisuus.