Asia's Wealth Gap Is Among The Largest In The World What Can Leaders Do
In Vietnam, the country’s richest man earns more in a day than the poorest person earns in a decade. This was just one of the many startling facts revealed by this year’s Oxfam inequality report, “An Economy for the 99%.” The report reflects a broader trend across the region, which despite seeing record growth over the past 20 years, has struggled to distribute new wealth evenly. In recent decades, Asia has become a region of extremes: China is now home to two companies (Alibaba and Tencent) which, between them, are valued at more than $1 trillion; while four of the world’s five most expensive cities are in Asia, with Hong Kong topping the list. In contrast, a wealth gap, driven largely by wage disparity and differing levels of access to education, has opened up. “Highly skilled workers with more education see their incomes rise, while low-skilled workers see their wages reduced,” noted a recent report by the Asian Development Bank. “This gap accounts for 25-35% of income inequality in Asia.”This trend is disproportionately felt by women, who face discrimination and are forced into lower-paying jobs than their male counterparts. “Women’s wages across Asia are between 70% and 90% of men’s,” concluded the Oxfam report. A 2016 IMF report noted that Asian nations “will need to address inequality of opportunities, in particular, the need to broaden access to education, health, and financial services, as well as tackle labor-market duality and informality.”This trend is in marked contrast to previous decades, where growth in Asia was more universally beneficial. "What you had in the '60s and '70s was Asia as a poster child for equitable growth," says Max Lawson, one of the chief authors of Oxfam’s inequality report. "I think that’s stopped happening. It’s almost as if Asia has forgotten what it did so well for so many years, and is starting to look more like the growth we see in Africa or Latin America , with high headline rates of growth, but the amount trickling down to the majority is rather small.”The countries making a differenceThere are a few Asian nations that have historically managed to minimize the gap between rich and poor. The Asian nation ranked highest in Oxfam’s Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index, published in 2016, was Japan. According to a 2016 Credit Suisse report, Japan has a more equal wealth distribution than any other major country, as reflected in a Gini coefficient of 63%. South Korea is also a leading light in this regard, ranked as 4th on the CRI Index. Recent years have seen an increase in poverty, particularly among South Korea’s elderly. President Moon Jae-in was elected on a wave of outrage over this growing inequality, and has begun work to reverse the trend in the coming years. “The steps that President Moon has taken to rapidly increase the minimum wage and increase taxation on the richest are encouraging,” says Lawson.
All data is taken from the source: http://forbes.com
Article Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ljkelly/...
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