Politica
Jobless spark global unrest
An International Labour Organisation report highlights the social implications of the labour crisis
di Staff
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned last week that if global unemployment does not recover before 2015, as is expected, the world should expect growing social unrest.
Since the economic crisis started in 2007, between 30 to 35 million jobs have been lost worldwide and the ILO forecasts that global unemployment will hit 215 million this year. “In the 35 countries for which data exists, nearly 40 per cent of jobseekers have been without work for more than one year and therefore run significant risks of demoralisation, loss of self-esteem and mental health problems. Importantly, young people are disproportionately hit by unemployment,” says the report.
Thousands of people demonstrated across Europe – in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia and Belgium – on Wednesday and Spain witnessed its first general strike in nine years. But governments are under renewed market pressures to cut their borrowing and implement austerity packages, highlighted by the latest downgrade for Spain’s credit rating and the news that Ireland’s borrowing will approach a third of GDP this year, to fund a €50bn bank bailout package.
The International Monetary Fund offered a warm endorsement of the British government’s plans and its Global Financial Stability Report recommended similar actions across the world. However, the ILO’s general director, Juan Somavia, said that: “Fairness must be the compass guiding us out of the crisis. People can understand and accept difficult choices, if they perceive that all share in the burden of pain. Governments should not have to choose between the demands of financial markets and the needs of their citizens. Financial and social stability must come together. Otherwise, not only the global economy but also social cohesion will be at risk.”
Many countries that experienced employment growth at the end of 2009 are now seeing the jobs recovery weaken. By the end of 2009, more than four million jobseekers had stopped looking for work in the countries for which information is available.
The ILO concludes: “The coexistence of private-debt-led growth in certain developed countries with export-led growth in large emerging economies has proved to be the Achilles heel of the world economy. Recovery will be fragile as long as labour incomes continue to grow less than justified by productivity developments and the financial system remains dysfunctional.”
