Pandemics and inequality

The world, unfortunately, is an unequal place. This means that people do not have equal access to the same rights, opportunities, or quality of life. From a social perspective, countries have developed unevenly, which has been represented as the North-South divide. This has prevailed since WWII between the Northern world, which are countries that are more developed, industrialised and wealthier as opposed to the Southern world comprising countries that are less developed, less industrialised and have a low GDP. Due to this, confronting inequalities is an issue that will continue to define our time.

Even before the emergence of coronavirus, inequality appeared to be on the rise globally. Even though some countries channeled efforts to reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty; gaps continued to widen between the rich and poor, hampering social growth and progress. With the richest 1% of population being the winner in today’s global economy, the bottom 40% earn less than a quarter of income. Forbes found that the world’s 10 richest billionaires own $801 billion when their wealth is combined — a sum greater than the total goods and services most nations produce annually. Moreover, this accumulation of wealth happens on the backs of people who earn poor wages and are subjected to dangerous conditions. These then become communities with rampant social inequality, wide disparities in areas of health and education and more people likely to remain trapped in poverty.

With Covid-19, we are currently faced with an unprecedented economic, social and health crisis. This has also disproportionately affected the poor worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic has raised concerns about inequality and we find that socioeconomic shocks, like Hurricane Katrina, have disproportionately affected vulnerable populations. Research shows that a wide range of natural and man-made disasters including hurricanes, floods, and economic downturns repeatedly demonstrate that greater burden falls on those in disadvantaged social and geographic locations. Historically, it has also been seen that the level of social inequality has an intricate relationship with pandemics and as such the relationship is dichotomous given that pandemics may breed inequality but inequality may also be why the outbreak occurred in the first place.

The pandemic has forcefully exposed further inequalities. The post-pandemic world could experience greater inequality unless governments formulate policies which curb the unequal impact of the virus. In Pakistan’s context, Covid-19 has widened existing inequalities with lack of health insurance, limited universal health coverage, poor access to water during lockdown and cramped living conditions which make physical distancing a challenge. These factors coupled with the Pakistani society not having fully addressed long-lasting inequalities related to poverty, hunger, gender, and health, have been plaguing our communities for decades. If these challenges are not swiftly addressed, we will risk reversing any gains achieved in the past decades in poverty alleviation.

Taking the case of education in Pakistan, only a quarter of schoolchildren are able to access online education which is the only platform available during lockdown. Less than 15% are able to take online classes despite the high density of smartphones per family, and less than 1% of un-enrolled children under 15 years are able to connect with any type of online activity.

The brunt of the crisis both in its scope and severity is borne by already marginalised and vulnerable people. Therefore, post-Covid, the situation can be predicted to worsen. The recovery process should thus be equitable and the line between haves and have-nots should not be widened whilst ensuring fairness and sustainability in the post-pandemic world.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2021.

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