Income inequality tops the ten biggest challenges that we face. This is not a statement by trade unions or labour advocacy organisations, but tops the major trends for 2015 identified in a fresh World Economic Forum Report.
It is a sobering experience to look at the report’s graphics on how much the share of the national incomes of the richest 1 % really has grown during the last 20 or so years.
Hardly surprising, the United States is a particularly extreme case of this inequality, but also Australia and Sweden – and some others – show results that they can hardly be proud of. It would be interesting to measure how much of this has been due to political changes in countries that have traditionally been considered as rather egalitarian welfare states.
Lack of awareness can not be the reason for failing to act on this:
“According to the 2014 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, in the seven Sub-Saharan African nations polled over 90% of respondents regard the gap between rich and poor as a big problem; in the United States, almost 80% do.”
Looking forward, the report cautions that particularly Asia and the Pacific may face a high risk of rising inequality, although this will be true also in the other parts of the world.
With its enormous convening power and influence WEF is surely making an impact by highlighting these problems. The host of the annual Davos Summit meetings points at where solutions can be found:
“We know what we need: inclusive economies in which men and women have access to decent employment, legal identification, financial services, infrastructure and social protection, as well as societies where all people can contribute and participate in global, national and local governance. It is now time for action, in order to leave no one behind and bring everyone forward with a life of dignity.”
The step to decisive action is still a long and difficult one.
Four policy areas stand out when the experts’ opinions are summarized: Redistribution, taxation, education and jobs creation.
This new reporting on income inequalities is definitely something to read and to contemplate on, as are the nine other trends that WEF lists for the next year.
The Global Social Responsibility Programme GSCP meeting at UN Headquarters in New York was a timely and concrete opportunity for business and stakeholders to discuss and plan their own contributions to dealing with this huge problem. The next months will see more concrete action being launched, hopfeully with a big relevance for many of those who are really low down on the world’s income ladders.