The pandemic Income inequality has exacerbated, with the world’s richest people regaining their losses in nine months, while the number of people living in poverty has doubled to more than 500 million, according to a new report by the poverty-fighting group Oxfam.
According to the study, it could take a decade for the world’s poorest to regain their financial position from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, which argues that the new coronavirus has accelerated an ongoing trend towards increasing income inequality. Oxfam’s report will be released to coincide with the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda, which will take place online this year in place of the traditional gathering of global movers and shakers in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
America’s richest people saw their wealth increase by more than $ 1 trillion during the pandemic, thanks to a booming stock market and K-shaped recovery that benefited the rich, while the poorer grappled with lost wages and jobs and future opportunities. It is a rich versus poor phenomenon that is repeated all over the world. Oxfam describes the impact of the pandemic as “the greatest increase in inequality since the records began.”
Oxfam called on the Biden government and other governments around the world to address the inequalities caused by the pandemic. In the US, it said, a “multi-trillion dollar economic recovery plan” is needed to help the tens of millions of Americans who are suffering the economic impact of the pandemic. President Joe Biden has proposed a $ 1.9 trillion aid package, although it has not yet been adopted by Congress.
“Now is not the time to tinker at the edge. We need big and bold action for a more dignified future where everyone can thrive, not just survive,” Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s vice president, said in a statement.
Economists in 79 countries polled by Oxfam said they predicted their country would experience an “increase” to a “major increase” in income inequality as a result of the pandemic. Among the economists surveyed were Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, Jayati Ghosh of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California at Berkeley.
Higher unemployment among women and people of color
In particular, the pandemic has exposed the inequalities faced by women and people of color, who have faced higher unemployment rates during the pandemic. They are also more likely to work in industries with higher exposure to COVID-19 risk, such as service-related healthcare jobs and restaurants. Women comprise 7 out of 10 workers in the global health and social care workforce, Oxfam noted.
“Women and marginalized racial and ethnic groups are most affected by this crisis. They are more likely to be pushed into poverty, more likely to be hungry and more likely to be excluded from healthcare,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International. , said in the statement.