GRIM OUTLOOK
Up to 150 million could join extreme poor, World Bank says
JOHANNESBURG — Up to 150 million people could slip into extreme poverty, living on less than $1.90 a day, by late next year depending on how badly economies shrink during the COVID- 19 pandemic, the World Bank said Wednesday i n a n o u t l o o k grimmer than before.
Middle income- countries are expected to have 82% of the new extreme poor, including India, Nigeria and Indonesia. Many of the new extreme poor will be more educated urban residents, meaning cities will see an increase in the kind of poverty traditionally rooted in rural areas.
Most of the new extreme poor, more than 110 million e ven by t he World Bank's baseline estimate, will be in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The pandemic has abruptly h a l t e d y e a r s o f p r o g r e s s against global extreme poverty, expected to rise this year for the first time in over two decades. It also threatens to worsen global inequality and make it “harder for countries to return to inclusive growth,” World Bank president David Malpass said.
Global economic growth is expected to fall by 5.2% this year, more than i n the past eight decades.
Al most a quart e r of t he world's population lives below $3.20 a day, a massive number of people vulnerable to the kind of economic shocks that this year have come in waves. Unemployment is rising, and those who scraped together savings have watched them disappear. Families are eating l e s s . Many c h i l d r e n , who account for half of the world's poor, miss out on distance learning.
“C O V I D - 1 9 a c c e l - e r a t e d t h i s t r e n d dramatically: by demonstrating the value of the digital world they helped t o c r e a t e , t h e y w e r e abl e t o decisi vel y pull ahead of the pack as they i ncreased t heir wealth
while others' fell.”
F r o m 2 0 1 8 t h r o u g h the fi rst seven months of 2020, technology bill i onaires' t otal wealth rose by 42.5% to $1.8 trillion as investors boosted t ech shares, t he st udy f ound. And healthcare billionaires' total wealth i n c r e a s e d b y 5 0 . 3 % t o $ 65 8 . 6 b i l l i o n , t h e research says.
Billionaires i n entert a i n m e n t , f i n a n c i a l
services and real estate s e c t o r s l a g g e d w i t h increases of 10% or less.
Researchers from UBS and PwC say the numbers c apture f i nancial i n f o r ma t i o n f r o m 4 3 markets across the world and account for around 98% of global billionaire wealth.
T h e f i n a n c i a l g a i n s aren't being shared by all. As the uber-wealthy h a v e g o t t e n r i c h e r a s
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the study suggests, millions of Americans have suffered.
The U. S. lost 22 million jobs at the height of t he pandemic over t he summer and clawed back 11.4 million jobs, slightly more t h a n h a l f , s i nc e then. A majority of the job losses hit low-income Americans as millions of jobs in hospitality, rest a u r a n t s a n d t o u r i s m were slashed.
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