Increased social mobility, reduced inequality gaps will boost economic growth – Report
CAPE TOWN – Increasing social mobility, a key driver of income equality, by 10% would not only benefit social cohesion but also boost economic growth by nearly 5% over the next decade, according to the findings of a report released on Monday.
The World Economic Forum’s inaugural Social Mobility Report has found that creating societies where every person has the same opportunity to fulfil their potential in life irrespective of socioeconomic background would not only bring huge societal benefits in the form of reduced inequalities and healthier, more fulfilled lives, it would also boost economic growth by hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
The report measured 82 economies against five “key dimensions”, distributed over 10 pillars, that were necessary for creating social mobility. These include health, education, technology, work and protections and institutions.
A common theme in the report is that few economies have adequate conditions to foster social mobility. As a consequence, inequality had become entrenched and was likely to worsen amidst an era of technological change and efforts towards a green transition.
It further identified four key areas among the 10 pillars where progress, across both developed and emerging economies, was particularly lagging, namely low wages, lack of social protection, inadequate working conditions, and poor lifelong learning systems for workers and the unemployed.
Source: iol.co.za
