New Oxfam research reveals that over a third of the world’s population has had no public money to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new report “Shelter from the Storm”, done in partnership with Development Pathways, reviewed government schemes used to inject additional money to help people, such as disability, unemployment, child, and elderly benefits, for 126 low and middle-income countries. It found none of them were adequate to meet everyone’s needs.
Overall, the world has spent an additional $11.7 trillion this year to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Of this, $9.8 trillion (83%) was spent by 36 rich countries against just $42 billion (0.4%) in 59 low-income countries.
On additional cash poured specifically into social protection programs, 28 rich countries have spent at the rate of $695 per person. In contrast, low-income and emerging countries have spent at a per capita rate of between $28 to as low as $4.
To make matters worse, rich countries have only increased their aid to developing countries for social protection by $5.8 billion – the equivalent of less than five cents for every $100 raised to tackle Covid-19.
“The coronavirus united the world in fear but has divided it in response,” said Oxfam Executive Director Gabriela Bucher. “The pandemic sparked a laudable global effort that reached more than a billion more people with social protection support over 2020 but, as of today, more people still have been left behind entirely. That need not be so.”
The need for better social protection programs to help people is huge. Half a billion people are now under-employed or out of work, twice as many women affected as men. Workers in low-income countries have suffered most, losing 23% of their working hours. People are falling into debt, skipping meals, keeping children from school and selling their assets. Remittance flows from migrants to reliant families back home have collapsed. Global poverty and hunger are rocketing.
However, the report finds:
- 41% of the 126 countries studied had social protection schemes consisting of one-off payments, now long exhausted; only 13% had programs that lasted longer than six months. Eight out of 10 countries have not reached even half their citizens.
- Some countries like South Africa, Namibia and Bolivia were better prepared with near-universal social benefits in place prior to the pandemic. Oxfam says that most other countries could achieve this with better policies and more support.
- By 2030, Kenya and Indonesia, for example, could cut their poverty rate by 25% and 31% respectively by investing 1.7% of their GDP now into universal social protection schemes.
- Many developing countries have been able to mobilize non-financial help, like food aid, but this is often insufficient to make up the overall gap in formal social protection schemes.
