Oxfam’s new inequality report, which reveals that the world’s billionaires —just 2,153 people— have more wealth than 4.6 billion people, is making headlines across the globe. Since we launched our report, we have received lots of interesting questions. Here’s our response to ten of the most frequently asked questions. 1. What does women’s unpaid care work have to do with billionaires? …
Making care count: Valuing work and wellbeing over wealth
We are heading into increasingly stormy times. Times when caring for each other will become more critical and challenging. By 2025, economies will be in crisis response mode, coping with 2.4 billion people living in areas without enough water. By 2030, an additional 100 million older people and a further 100 million children between 6-14 years of age will need …
The daily, unpaid work that greases the wheels of the global economy
Let’s do a thought experiment: What would happen if as soon as women gave birth they handed over their babies to the fathers to take total responsibility, at all times, of all needs? No women would be available for hire to take on all the domestic and care duties, so fathers couldn’t buy themselves out of the situation. What if …
Taxing wealth is key to fighting inequality
Conventional wisdom about taxing wealth is shifting, writes Didier Jacobs, Oxfam America’s Senior Policy Advisor. Long dismissed as unfeasible, and frowned upon as politically incorrect, radical ideas are now gaining ground. The new star on the left of the US Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, suggests increasing the top income tax rate to 70%. That sounds more radical than Bernie Sanders’ …
Feminist solutions to man-made economic inequality
Francesca Rhodes, Gender Policy Advisor, Man-Kwun Chan, Influencing Advisor, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care, and Anam Parvez Butt, Gender Justice Research Lead at Oxfam GB outline some of the key ways public spending and taxation could reduce gender inequality. In the words of feminist activist, Paula Varela: ‘Women… have the majority of the precarious jobs, and we perform the overwhelming …
Davos is here again
Duncan Green summarises Oxfam’s new report.