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Worsening economies threaten to undo gains against poverty – ILO
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Worsening economic conditions in Asia, Latin America and the Arab world threaten to undo decades of progress in reducing global poverty, according to a report by the International Labour Organisation. The UN agency warned that a third of workers earned less than the “moderate poverty threshold” of $3.10 (£2.10) a day, and many were in precarious jobs without basic social protections such as healthcare and welfare benefits.
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It urged governments in the developed world to focus on improving the quality of jobs in the developing world, rather than just on aid, to create more sustainable and better paid employment.
Research for its World Employment Social Outlook (Weso) report for 2016 found that almost 2.5 billion people remain in poverty across the world despite huge efforts to increase the number of jobs and raise the incomes of low-paid workers. It said that eliminating poverty by raising incomes to a minimum $3.10 a day would cost $600bn a year, or $10tn by 2030, which would only be possible through a mix of higher-grade jobs and transfers from the better-off through taxes to pay for healthcare, education and welfare benefits.
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It argued that without investment in more skilled jobs and better social protection, the bottom 30% of earners would continue to claim less than 2% of the world’s income.
Last year the ILO, which monitors global employment trends, said in its first social outlook report that only a quarter of workers had found stable employment, with the rest on temporary or short-term contracts, in informal jobs, often without any contract, or in unpaid family jobs.
The 2016 report, which is mostly based on figures up to 2012, said: “A significant proportion of those who moved out of poverty continue to live on just a few dollars per day, often with limited access to essential services and social protection which would allow them to exit precarious living conditions on a more permanent basis. Also, in those developed countries where quality jobs are scarce, there is growing anxiety among middle-class families about their ability to sustain their income position.
“Similarly, the recent deterioration of economic prospects in Asia, Latin America, the Arab region and those countries rich in natural resources has begun to expose the fragility of the recent employment and social advances.
“Already, in a number of these countries, income inequality has begun to rise after being in decline for decades, and thus a reversal of some of the progress made to date in tackling poverty is not inconceivable. Likewise, latest trends suggest a further escalation in relative poverty levels in Europe and other developed countries.”
The UN has recently established a goal of ending poverty by 2030, but has struggled to persuade the US and other developed economies to commit funds to invest in countries that rely on labour-intensive agriculture for most incomes.
In a report last year, the UN warned that slowing economic growth since 2008 was reversing decades of improving employment levels, with young people bearing the brunt of the financial crisis. In 2015, the number of unemployed people was 28 million higher than it had been in 2007, and an estimated 39 million people had dropped out of the labour market.
The ILO director general, Guy Ryder, said: “Clearly, the sustainable development goal of ending poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030 is at risk. If we are serious about the 2030 agenda and want to finally put an end to the scourge of poverty perpetuating across generations, then we must focus on the quality of jobs in all nations.”
Raymond Torres, ILO special adviser on social and economic issues, added: “Only through deliberately improving the quality of employment for those who have jobs and creating new, decent work will we provide a durable exit from precarious living conditions and improve livelihoods for the working poor and their families.”
Increases in relative poverty across Europe had also restricted the ability of poorer workers to better themselves and their families, threatening social cohesion, the ILO said.
The Weso 2016 found that the incidence of relative poverty has increased by one percentage point in the EU since the start of the 2008 financial crisis, while it has remained flat in the US. The report estimates that in 2012, more than 300 million people in developed countries were living in poverty, where their income represented less than 60% of median incomes.
