The 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic within nine months, according to estimates from Oxfam, but the global charity believes it could take more than a decade for the world’s poorest to recover, CNBC reports.
“The world’s 10 richest men have seen their combined wealth increase by half a trillion dollars since the pandemic began — more than enough to pay for a coronavirus vaccine for everyone and to ensure no one is pushed into poverty by the pandemic,” Oxfam said in a report entitled “The Inequality Virus.”
At the same time, it added, the pandemic has “ushered in the worst job crisis in over 90 years with hundreds of millions of people now underemployed or out of work.”
Women and ethnic minorities were hardest hit by the pandemic, Oxfam said.
“Women and marginalized racial and ethnic groups are bearing the brunt of this crisis. They are more likely to be pushed into poverty, more likely to go hungry, and more likely to be excluded from health care,” Oxfam International executive director Gabriela Bucher said in the report.
“Billionaires fortunes, however, rebounded as stock markets recovered despite continued recession in the real economy. Their total wealth hit US$11.95 trillion in December 2020, equivalent to G-20 governments’ total coronavirus recovery spending.”
When the global pandemic took hold in Europe and the U.S. in spring 2020, global stock markets plummeted as lockdowns were imposed to control the virus. But they have since rallied thanks to unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus measures by governments and central banks aimed at mitigating the impact of the health crisis.
Oxfam said the road to recovery will be much longer for people who were already struggling before the virus pandemic. “When the virus struck, more than half of workers in poor countries were living in poverty, and three-quarters of workers globally had no access to social protections like sick pay or unemployment benefits,” it said.
Oxfam’s report was published on Monday to coincide with the start of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda, taking place virtually this year amid the pandemic.
The forum brings together political and business leaders to look for ways to improve the state of the world, although it is dogged by criticism that debate rarely leads to material changes in government or corporate policies. A key theme on the agenda is looking at how to rebuild the global economy on fairer footing after the global health crisis.
