BANGKOK—The disparity between the rich and the poor is growing despite the rapid economic growth and poverty reduction in Asia, international nongovernment organization Oxfam said.
There are several ways in which the media can help narrow the gap, said Kala Pulido-Constantino, Oxfam’s Regional Campaigns, Policy and Influencing Manager for Asia.
Speaking during the workshop and forum, dubbed “Engaging Journalists for an Equitable Asia,” organized by Oxfam in Asia, Pulido-Constantino cited various reports in the last few decades as offered by various “growth indicators” that gave Asia a very positive outlook.
Between 2005 and 2012 alone, the number of people living in extreme poverty in the Asia Pacific was reduced by 1.1 billion, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total poverty reduction achieved worldwide.
Between 1990 and 2010, Asia’s economic output increased at a remarkable annual average of 7 percent per year, while the rest of the world’s economy slowed down.
In 2013 the developing region’s economic output expanded by 7 percent.
However, Pulido-Constantino said such “impressive” economic performance is taking place alongside high levels of poverty and rising inequality.
Pulido-Constantino said there is an apparent failure to meet the expectation under Sustainable Development Goal 10, which is focused on reducing inequalities.
The forum was held ahead of the launch on October 9 of Oxfam’s latest report called the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2018.
“Inequality in the region between the mid-1990s to the late-2000s has risen by as much as 18 percent, much higher compared with the 10-percent increase in the Gini coefficient of OECD countries. Although the last two decades saw 650 million people in the region lifted out of poverty, 1.6 billion people continue to live on less than $2 a day,” she said.
Such is followed by the rising income and wealth inequality in Asia.
“Economic growth is creating jobs and generating wealth across Asia. However, poverty amid plenty continues to persist. Even with the increasing development and bountiful resources, millions are being left behind. Workers and farmers remain mired in poverty despite—and perhaps because of—their role as the engine behind the very growth that is marginalizing them. Amid the prosperity created in economies across the region, inequality continues to rise. Meanwhile, pollution, the clearing of forests, and the overuse of natural resources are endangering the environment that the economy depends upon,” she said.
Pulido-Constantino said, however, that inequality is not a new phenomenon, although, within country income and wealth, inequality has been growing at a staggering rate.
Income and wealth inequality is growing and remains at an all-time high in the Asia-Pacific region, she said. For instance, she said the population-weighted market income Gini coefficient states that the region’s average inequality increased from 32.7 in the early-1990s to 38.1 in the early-2010s.
“This overall rise in income inequality is mostly due to sharp increases in the region’s most dynamic and populous countries. Between 1990-1994 and 2010- 2014 the market income Gini coefficient soared by 9.6 percentage points in China, 8.2 percentage points in Indonesia, 4.6 percentage points in Bangladesh and 4.3 percentage points in India,” she stressed.
The four countries are among the five most populous countries in the region, representing over 70 percent of the population in 2015.
The overall picture, however, is mixed. In 60 percent of the Asian and Pacific countries, income inequality declined, often from very high levels.
“The sharpest fall in inequality occurred in the Maldives, followed by Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, reflecting the recovery of those countries from the economic crisis that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union,” she said.
Meanwhile, last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, one more every two days.
“Billionaires saw their wealth increase by $762 billion in 12 months. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over. 82 percent of all wealth created in the last year went to the top 1 percent, while the bottom 50 percent saw no increase at all,” she said.
Pulido-Constantino said there are now 2,043 dollar billionaires worldwide. Nine out of 10 are men. Billionaires also saw a huge increase in their wealth.
The forum-workshop attended by a small group of select journalists from Asia aims to sharpen the journalists’ grasp through the exchange of knowledge and experiences their respective countries.
Recognizing the powerful voice of the media, she said Oxfam hopes to close the wealth inequalities.
Interviewed by the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the forum/workshop, she said there are ways to address wealth inequalities, in which the governments—through media—can help.
“Wealth inequality is a policy choice. Extreme inequality is not inevitable. The government can address the problem,” she said.
She enumerated three aspects where the government can help close the wealth inequality, namely, through increased social spending, progressive taxation and ensuring labor rights and increasing wages.
“Social spending means spending more for the people. Progressive taxation means the government should impose taxes based on earnings. Tax corporations that earn and reduce the burden of heavy taxation from the poor. Last, governments should ensure labor rights are protected, and workers are receiving correct wages,” she said.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila