1.4 BILLION ASIA-PACIFIC WORKFORCE SURVIVING ON $5.5 PER DAY

Wed 07 September 2022:

In its most recent report, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) portrayed a bleak image of the region’s workforce.

According to the survey, two-thirds of Asia-workforce, Pacific’s or 1.4 billion people, are living on less than $5.5 per day, putting them on the verge of poverty.

The report, issued at the Committee on Social Development’s seventh session, also stated that more than half of the region’s population is not covered by any form of social protection.

“Our region spends less than half of the global average on social protection. Almost 60 per cent of the population has no social protection coverage against normal life events such as pregnancy, child-raising, sickness, disability, unemployment or simply getting old,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, executive secretary of ESCAP.

The vulnerability due to lack of social protection has far-reaching consequences. 85 million unprotected people have been pushed into extreme poverty, only managing on less than a meagre income of $1.9 per day. Meanwhile, 158 million of this class have plunged into moderate poverty, surviving on $3.2 a day.

According to the report, Asia-Pacific’s labour productivity has fallen below the global average.

“During the pandemic, the lack of affordable health care and social protection contributed to pushing 243 million people into poverty,” added the report.

The report also took into measure the climate change the Asia-Pacific region was witnessing and its effect on the labour class.

“The region is highly exposed to climate-induced natural disasters with detrimental welfare consequences for workers, as jobs disappear and businesses relocate.”

Workers in the informal sector, particularly in agriculture, who account for one-third of the labor force, were the most vulnerable to climate change.

On the sidelines of the summit, UNESCAP established a Social Safety Online Toolbox (SPOT) to assist governments in broadening the social protection net for such persons across the region.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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