‘Economies need $10tr to eradicate poverty by 2030’

36% of emerging market lives below $3.10 PPP

To stem the growing pangs of poverty across global economies, about $600 billion might be required yearly or $10 trillion in the next 15 years.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder

This is the projection of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) 2016 report. It stressed that poverty goal of 2030 Agenda is at risk without decent work, even as relative poverty in developed countries is increasing.

ILO’s WESO 2016 report themed: ‘Transforming jobs to end poverty’, finds that over 36 per cent of the emerging and developing world live in poverty – on a daily income of less than $ 3.10 purchasing power parity (PPP).

The report concluded that the problem of persistent poverty cannot be solved by income transfers alone, but that more and better jobs are crucial to achieving this goal.

It is estimated that almost a third of the extremely or moderately poor in developing economies have jobs. However, these employments are vulnerable in nature: they are sometimes unpaid, concentrated in low-skilled occupations and, in the absence of social protection, rely almost exclusively on labour income.

The report observed that among developed countries, more workers have wage and salaried employment, but that does not stop them from falling into poverty.

WESO 2016 found that the incidence of relative poverty has increased by one percentage point in the European Union, since the start of the crisis.

Commenting, 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.”

Right now, according to ILO Special Advisor on Social and Economic Issues, Raymond Torres, while 30 per cent of the world is poor, they only hold two per cent of the world’s income.

“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”, he stated.

The study also found that high levels of income inequality reduce the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction.

“This finding tells us that it is past time to reflect on the responsibility of rich nations and individuals in the perpetuation of poverty. Accepting the status quo is not an option,” said Torres.

The ILO estimates on poverty reduction come after a sustained period of global progress, with the share of population living in extreme poverty falling from 46.9 per cent in 1990 to just under 15 per cent among 107 emerging and developing countries. When the moderately poor are considered, the rate has fallen from 67.2 per cent to 36.2 per cent.

But the data demonstrates that progress on poverty has been uneven. Poverty has declined rapidly in middle-income countries, especially in the Asia and Pacific region, but by a much lesser extent in low-income countries, where 47.2 per cent of people remain in extreme poverty. In developed countries poverty has in fact increased in recent years, notably in the European Union.

Further, despite the significant overall progress in reducing extreme poverty, WESO 2016 warned that continued poverty reduction is threatened not only by weak economic growth but by key structural obstacles to quality employment creation.

Recent deterioration of economic prospects in Asia, Latin America and the Arab region and natural resource rich countries has begun to expose the fragility of employment and social progress. In some of these countries income inequality has begun to rise after decades of declines, raising the possibility that progress on poverty might be at risk.

Poverty reduction across sectors within countries has also been uneven. Using the latest data, estimates based on 43 emerging and developing countries show that a quarter of those employed in agriculture were in extreme poverty (nearly two-thirds of all the working extreme poor), compared with just 12 per cent of those employed in industry, and only seven per cent of those employed in services.

The WESO 2016 report concludes with a number of recommendations to address the structural challenges to providing quality jobs and a concomitant reduction in poverty. They include: tackling low-productivity traps; strengthen rights at work and enable employer and worker organizations to reach the poor; alleviate poverty through well-designed employment and social policies, among others.