Thread by @EdPomfret

.@Oxfam warns half a billion people could be pushed into poverty by @coronavirus - between 6 & 8% of the global population could be forced into poverty as governments shut down entire economies to manage the spread of the virus
Thread /1
oxfam.org/en/press-relea…

Existing inequalities dictate the economic impact of the crisis. The poorest workers in all nations are less likely to be in formal employment,enjoy labour protections eg sick pay,or be able to work from home. Just 1 in 5 unemployed people have access to unemployment benefits
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Women are likely to be hardest hit financially. Women make up 70% of health workers globally & provide 75% of unpaid care, looking after children, the sick & the elderly. Women are also more likely to be employed in poorly paid precarious jobs that are most at risk.
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#Covid19

More than one million Bangladeshi garment workers –80% of whom are women– have already been laid off or sent home without pay after orders from western clothing brands were cancelled or suspended.
2 billion people globally work in the informal sector with no access to sick pay
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With all bailouts we must learn from the 2008 financial crisis, when rescue packages focused on saving banks & not on supporting ordinary people.
This time we need action directly aimed at benefiting the poorest people
& not simply bailing out big corporations.
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#coronavirus

This economic stimulus for all mustn't be paid for not by another lost decade of austerity, but by increasing taxation of big corporations on their extraordinary profits or undertaxed businesses, of speculative financial activities & of the richest people in our societies
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Here's @Oxfam's 6 points for how the economic rescue plan should work:
1. Give cash grants to all who need them.Prioritizing a massive increase in social protection benefits,providing mass cash grants to enable people to survive & subsidies to workers to keep businesses afloat
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2. Bail out businesses responsibly.Give priority to supporting small businesses
who have least ability to cope with the crisis. Bailouts of big corporations should be conditional on measures to uphold the interests of workers,farmers & taxpayers & to build a sustainable future
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3.Suspend & cancel debts. All the debt payments of developing countries should be suspended for a year &, where needed, debts should be cancelled.

4. The @IMFNews should issue $1 trillion in Special Drawing Rights as a one-off global economic stimulus.
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#coronavirus #covid19

5. Increase aid now.
Rich nations should immediately increase aid to support the poorest nations, meeting their commitment of 0.7% of GDP now, including by giving their fair share to the #Covid19usa Global Humanitarian Response Plan

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#coronavirus #COVID19

6. Adopt emergency solidarity taxes. Mobilize as much revenue as possible by taxing on
extraordinary profits, the wealthiest individuals, speculative financial products & activities
that have a negative impact on the environment.
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#coronavirus #covid19

We must Build Back Better. Build on this moment of unprecedented government action to change permanently our economies so that they radically reduce inequality and win the fight against climate breakdown.
Ensure that everyone on Earth has access to universal healthcare...
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...and build A human economy, a feminist economy, guaranteeing that today’s emergency interventions will be paid for by fairer taxation of rich individuals and corporations, not by a return to brutal austerity. And that enables us to take action to stop climate breakdown.
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You can read much more on all of these proposals in @Oxfam's report:
'Dignity not Destitution:
An ‘Economic Rescue Plan For All’ to tackle the #Coronavirus crisis & rebuild a more equal
world'
right here-->>
oxfam.org/en/research/di…
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#COVID19