Ayesha Mudassar

Promoting equality and making sure that all individuals are treated equally and fairly is integral to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said Vice-Chancellor Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Dr. Nadeem ul Haque. According to Dr Nadeem, inequality has been a persistent problem. Poor redistribution via taxes and spending, privatization, higher net private wealth, and neo-colonialism contributed to this extreme inequality.

“In Pakistan, the richest top 10 percent of the population earn 40 percent of the national income, whereas the poorest 10 percent earn just 2 percent.” Talking about gender inequality, Dr. Mariam Mohsin, Assistant Professor at the PIDE, said despite constituting half of the country’s population, women had a remarkably low participation rate of only 21 percent in the current workforce, with only 25 percent of women with a university degree working.

According to the Global Gender Gap Index Report 2022, Pakistan ranks 145 out of 146 countries for female economic participation. Regarding the enhanced carbon inequality, Associate Research Fellow at the SDPI Dr. Zainab Naeem said the industrialized Global North was the major contributor to carbon emissions. Twenty largest economies are responsible for 80 percent of greenhouse gases, while 46 least developed countries are contributing 1 percent to the world’s carbon emissions. The World Inequality Report 2022 portrays a very grim picture of inequality around the world. Four types of inequalities have been discussed: wealth inequality, income inequality, gender inequality, and carbon inequality.

Source: World Inequality Report 2022

Several policy options are suggested by the experts to reduce the high level of inequality: employing a progressive tax and benefits system, empowering women, and promoting climate justice. Implementation of the right policies and practices is necessary.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk