INEQUALITY REPORT

Subject : International Reports

Context : A new report by Oxfam has found that the Covid pandemic deeply exacerbated existing inequalities in India and around the world.

Concept :

The report, titled ‘The Inequality Virus’, has found that as the pandemic stalled the economy, forcing millions of poor Indians out of jobs, the richest billionaires in India increased their wealth by 35 per cent.
In stark contrast, 170,000 people lost their jobs every hour in the month of April 2020, the report points out.
Sectorally, India’s large informal workforce was the worst hit as it made up 75 per cent of the 122 million jobs lost. Informal workers had relatively fewer opportunities to work from home and suffered more job loss compared to the formal sector.
Oxfam has argued the urgent need for policymakers to tax the wealthy individuals and rich corporates and use that money to “invest in free quality public services and social protection to support everyone, from cradle to grave”.