Oxfam International has recently published a report, “Time to Care: Unpaid and Underpaid Care Work and the Global Inequality Crisis,” to coincide with the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). This report emphasises the need for global poverty alleviation. It highlights the escalating issue of economic inequality, which it claims has reached an uncontrollable level and resulted in a significant global divide.
This divide, according to the report, is caused by a defective and sexist economic system. This flawed system has led to the accumulation of enormous wealth and power in the hands of a select few wealthy individuals. Meanwhile, it exploits the labour of women and girls while systematically denying their rights.
Understanding the Key Aspects of the Report
In 2019, there were 2,153 billionaires worldwide, twice the number compared to last decade, suggesting an increase in wealth concentration despite a 2018 decline in combined billionaire wealth. The world’s richest 1% own more than double the wealth of 6.9 billion people.
Women aged 15 and over carry out unpaid care work around the world with an estimated annual monetary value of at least $10.8 trillion. This is three times the size of the global tech industry. This unpaid care work forms the ‘hidden engine’ that drives our economies, businesses, and societies.
Global Wage Gaps & Taxation Implications
Between 2011 and 2017, average wages in G7 countries have risen by only 3%, while dividends to wealthy shareholders increased by 31%. An extra tax of just 0.5% on the wealth of the top 1% over the next decade could create 117 million jobs in education, health, and elderly care sectors.
Social Implications of Gender Inequality
Women face higher poverty rates than men. Indeed, global extreme poverty rates are 4% higher for women, with this gap expanding to 22% during women’s prime productive and reproductive ages. Also, 42% of working-age women compared to 6% of men are excluded from the paid labour force due to unpaid care responsibilities.
Facts About Domestic Workers
| Fact | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Domestic workers who are women | 80 |
| Domestic workers without access to social security | 90 |
India’s Wealth Disparity
In India, the richest 1% own more than four times the wealth held by the bottom 70% of the population. The combined total wealth of 63 Indian billionaires surpasses the total Union Budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19.
Recommendations and Oxfam International Overview
To counter these alarming findings, Oxfam International recommends investing in national care systems, ending extreme wealth to eliminate extreme poverty, securing living wages for paid care workers, and challenging harmful norms and sexist beliefs.
Oxfam International, founded in 1995, is a group of independent non-governmental organisations aiming to maximise efficiency and achieve greater impact in reducing global poverty and injustice. Its name is derived from the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, founded in Britain in 1942. Today, the Oxfam International Secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya, with offices in Addis Ababa, Oxford, Brussels, Geneva, New York, Moscow, and Washington DC.
This report underscores the collective work needed to lessen global inequality, emphasising that change is not just possible, but imperative.
