Abstract
The global spread of COVID-19 in the post-pandemic situation had a very drastic impact on various aspects of livelihood. The deaths have risen to more than 3.1 million wherein majorly the aged people remained in danger. The other aspects include the inequalities in sectors like unequal income, prices, opportunity, vaccine access, global recovery, extreme poverty, rising debt levels, etc. The major causes of these are regional trends, migration of skilled workers, the impact of policy, climate mitigation, and adoption policies, etc. Due to sudden switching of teaching in online mode, the education levels have drastically fallen causing learning poverty too. The extreme increase in basic commodities and fuel prices is seen in post-pandemic situations. The climate conditions are also drastically affected causing the people to migrate from one place to another place globally or locally. This chapter details the various causes of post-pandemic situations and the measures to overcome them for eradicating global inequalities.
TopIntroduction
The COVID-19 pandemic had affected lives in many aspects (Bick Alexander, 2020). The age group balances mismatched due to inequalities over gender, ethnic races, economy etc. The policymakers had to rapidly adjust their responses in the effort to “flatten the recession curve”. The major causes of inequality being at economic, social, environmental, etc. levels. This chapter projects the impact of inequality around technological innovation, climate change, urbanization and international migration. Technological change provokes growth in economy by enhancing possibilities in the fields of education, health care, communication and productivity (Gourinchas PO, 2020). But still it affects absurdly with wage inequality and displace workers. The climate change accelerates the suffering of the poorest countries and groups living in rural areas. Urbanization provides unmatched opportunities for wealth but allows glaring of high and growing levels of inequality. International migration of people for seeking new opportunities helps in reduction of global disparities (Chen Sophia, 2020). The inequality and crisis trend is as shown in figure 1.
Figure 1. Inequality and crisis (Ruth Hill, 2021)
The wealth inequality reported by World Bank is as shown in figure 2. Nearly 50% of the population owns only 2% of the total wealth while 1% of the population owns 38% among 10% of population owning 75% of the total wealth.
Figure 2. Wealth Inequality report by World Bank during 2022
Figure 3. Purchasing Power Parity as mentioned by Ferreira and others (2021)
The wealth and health of richer countries in spite of their advantages have shown a larger loss in life years due to the pandemic than many poorer countries as shown in figure 3.
The major focus is on
Inequality
Inequality i.e., as of now where we stand. The 2030 Agenda aims at ensuring equal opportunity and draws attention to attributes and circumstances that affect access to opportunity, namely age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion and economic or other status. While high- and growing-income inequality is fueling polarized political debates around the globe, a consensus has indeed emerged that all should enjoy equal access to opportunity – that one’s chances to succeed in life should not be determined by circumstances beyond an individual’s control.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Opportunity: Opportunity is an occasion or situation that makes it possible to do something that you want to do or have to do, or the possibility of doing something.
Debt Levels: Debt level is a measure of how much debt is outstanding where debt is used to finance household consumptions, businesses, and government spendings.
Vaccine: Vaccine is a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease.
Economic Crisis: Economic crisis is a period in an economic cycle in which an economy faces difficulties for a long time.
Climate Calamity: Climate calamity refers to natural events in weather cycles such as floods, droughts, storms, heat waves, etc.
Policymaking: Policymaking is the act of creating laws or setting standards for a government or business.
Inequality: Inequality refers to the phenomenon of unequal and/or unjust distribution of resources and opportunities among members of a given society.
Poverty: Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources due to low-income level and essentials for a minimum standard of living like having proper housing, clean water, healthy food and medical attention.
Regional Trends: Regional trends refer to a trend pertaining to a region of considerable extent.
Migration: Migration refers to the process of the process of moving or being moved from one place to another.
COVID-19: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.
Online Teaching: Online teaching is the process of educating others via the internet from any location (home, coffee shop, co-working space) using various methods such as one-on-one video calls, group video calls, and webinars, by enrolling students from various backgrounds and geographical areas.
Trade: Trade is the activity of buying and selling, or exchanging, goods and/or services between people or countries.
Pandemic: Pandemic refers to a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents which affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic.
Global Recovery: Global recovery is the recovery in a country’s economy which happens or affects all parts of the world.