Inequality growing in G20 countries

G20 economies are growing but the poor are failing to feel the benefits, Oxfam has warned.

The development charity said that inequality had increased in 14 out of 20 G20 countries since 1990 as governments and policy makers put economic growth before the interests of poor people.

According to its own research, inequality rose the fastest between 1990 and 2010 in Russia, China, Japan and South Arica.

It warns that more than a million people will be pushed into poverty in South Africa in the next decade unless action is taken to address inequality.

Inequality was also found to have increased greatly in the UK, Germany and Canada, while South Korea was the only rich country to have reduced inequality in the last two decades.

Overall, the US is the most unequal of the rich G20 countries, followed by Japan and the UK.

In addition to seeing their incomes fall far behind those at the top of the chain, the charity warned that poor people are being hit by the cost of economic growth, such as environmental degradation.

Oxfam will present its findings in a report to the Mexican President at the World Economic Forum taking place in Davos next week.

Caroline Pearce, co-author of the report, said that governments need to do adopt policies that will boost the incomes of the poor, not only promote growth.

The charity’s recommendations include progressive taxation, land reform, equal rights and opportunities for women, and the provision of universal health and education.

She also called for measures to protect them from environmental degradation.

“This analysis explodes once and for all the complacent assumption that governments can wait for economic growth to trickle–down to the poorest,” she said.

“The fact is poor people missed out on their fair share of the prosperity of the boom years and have been hit hardest by the crisis that followed.

“Contrary to popular myth, a rising economic tide does not necessarily lift all boats and can in fact sink some of them.”