According to Oxfam International’s annual inequality report, it could take more than a decade to repair the world’s poorest.
The report, released Sunday ahead of the World Economic Forum’s virtual meeting of political and financial leaders, usually held in Davos, Switzerland, contains the divergent impact of the virus around the world. The pandemic could increase economic inequality in almost every country simultaneously, the first time it has happened, Oxfam found.
“We are witnessing the biggest increase in inequality since records began. The deep divide between rich and poor is just as deadly as the virus,” said Gabriela Bucher, CEO of Oxfam. ‘Covered economies lead wealth to a wealthy elite that drives the pandemic into luxury, while those at the forefront of the pandemic – shop assistants, health workers and market vendors – struggle to pay the bills and turn on food. the table.”
The coronavirus, which has infected nearly 100 million people and killed more than 2.1 million worldwide, has brought inequality into the spotlight. The way people behave differed according to race, gender and income.
For example, nearly 22,000 Black and Hispanic Americans would still be alive by December if, according to the Oxfam, these groups died of the virus at the same rate as White Americans.
And 112 million fewer women are at risk of losing income or their jobs if men and women are equal in sectors plagued by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the rich endure the Covid storm in general quite well. Although stock markets collapsed in the early months of the pandemic, they roared back – thanks in part to the unprecedented economic aid provided by governments.
Oxfam has calculated that the wealth of billionaires grew by $ 3.9 billion from mid-March to the end of December.
But the number of people living in poverty worldwide could have increased by up to 500 million last year, according to a research article by the UN University World Institute for Development Economics Research quoted by Oxfam.
Other reports also found that the pandemic hurt the poor a lot. A separate study by the World Bank in October found that the pandemic could push up to 60 million people to extreme poverty.
To combat this growing inequality, governments must ensure that everyone has access to a Covid-19 vaccine and financial support if they lose their jobs, Bucher said. It is also the time for long-term investment in public services and low-carbon sectors to create millions of jobs and ensure that everyone has access to education, health care and social care, she said.
In the US, Oxfam has urged Congress to adopt an economic recovery plan that invests in green labor and supports the childcare industry, which will help women return to work and provide more assistance in the global fight against the pandemic.
“These measures should not be band-aid solutions for desperate times, but a ‘new normal’ in economies that work for the benefit of all people, not just the privileged,” Bucher said.
President Joe Biden has proposed a $ 1.9 billion coronavirus and economic relief package that includes additional stimulus payments, unemployment benefits and nutrition and housing assistance. He said he would launch an economic recovery plan next month.
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