"While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world's population saw no increase in their wealth last year." (Photo: Tareq Salahuddin)
Jan 23, 2018
Forida is a 22-year-old sewing machine operator in a clothing factory in Dahka, Bangladesh. She often works 12-hour days producing clothes for brands such as H&M and Target. Sometimes, during busy production cycles, the hours are even longer.
"Last year, I worked until midnight for a full month," Forida explained. "I used to feel sick all the time. I was stressed about my son and then after I got home from work, I had to clean the house and cook and then go back to work again the next morning. I would go to bed at 2am and get up at 5.30am each day."
Even with the combined income from her husband, Forida's family barely had enough food to eat.
Meanwhile, a CEO from a top clothing brand would have to work only four days to earn what a garment worker in Bangladesh earns in a lifetime.
Forida's story is included in a report released today by the anti-poverty organization Oxfam. The report, Reward Work, Not Wealth, reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive.
Oxfam found that 82% of the global wealth produced last year went to the richest 1% of the world's population. In other words, four out of every five dollars of wealth created in 2017 went into the pockets of the 1%.
While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world's population saw no increase in their wealth last year.
"The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system," said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. "The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors."
Oxfam reported that the 42 richest people now own as much wealth the poorest half of the world's population.
Since 2010, billionaire wealth has risen annually by 13%, a rate six time higher than that of average workers.
Key factors contributing to this concentration of wealth, Oxfam found, are erosion of workers' rights, corporate influence in political and labor policy-making, rewarding inherited wealth, tax evasion, and cutting costs to maximize profits for company owners.
"A perfect storm is driving up the bargaining power of those at the top while driving down the bargaining power of those at the bottom," Paul O'Brien, Oxfam America's Vice President for Policy and Campaigns, explained. "If such inequality remains unaddressed, it will trap people in poverty and further fracture our society."
Oxfam pointed to President Trump's policies as widening the gap between rich and poor, and empowering the 1% on the backs of the American working class.
Since taking office, Trump has chosen a cabinet with more billionaires in it than ever before in US history, and whose combined wealth is greater than the 100 million poorest Americans. Oxfam cited Trump's proposed tax and healthcare reforms as policies favoring the super-rich.
Meanwhile, the three richest Americans own the same wealth as the poorest half of the country's population.
Such data underlines the plight of the American poor. Oxfam's report included a portrait of Dolores, a former poultry worker in Arkansas. She and her co-workers were provided so few bathroom breaks at the factory that they were forced to wear diapers to work.
"It was like having no worth," Dolores said. "We would arrive at 5 in the morning... until 11 or 12 without using the bathroom... I was ashamed to tell them that I had to change my Pampers."
Work in the US poultry industry has one of the highest rates of injury in the country. Oxfam found that "repetitive strain injuries can be so severe that after only one year on the production lines, some workers reported being unable to straighten their fingers, hold a spoon or even properly hold their children's hands."
Across the world, poor people's labor fuels the rising concentration of wealth.
"Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few," Oxfam explained. "Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Benjamin Dangl
Benjamin Dangl is a Journalism & Communication Lecturer at University of Vermont. He has a PhD in Latin American history from McGill University and has worked as a journalist throughout Latin America for over fifteen years, covering politics and protest movements for outlets such as Common Dreams, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Nation, Salon, Vice, and NACLA Report on the Americas. He is the author of the books "The Five Hundred Year Rebellion: Indigenous Movements and the Decolonization of History in Bolivia;" "Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America;" "The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia," all published by AK Press. Follow him on Twitter: @bendangl
Forida is a 22-year-old sewing machine operator in a clothing factory in Dahka, Bangladesh. She often works 12-hour days producing clothes for brands such as H&M and Target. Sometimes, during busy production cycles, the hours are even longer.
"Last year, I worked until midnight for a full month," Forida explained. "I used to feel sick all the time. I was stressed about my son and then after I got home from work, I had to clean the house and cook and then go back to work again the next morning. I would go to bed at 2am and get up at 5.30am each day."
Even with the combined income from her husband, Forida's family barely had enough food to eat.
Meanwhile, a CEO from a top clothing brand would have to work only four days to earn what a garment worker in Bangladesh earns in a lifetime.
Forida's story is included in a report released today by the anti-poverty organization Oxfam. The report, Reward Work, Not Wealth, reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive.
Oxfam found that 82% of the global wealth produced last year went to the richest 1% of the world's population. In other words, four out of every five dollars of wealth created in 2017 went into the pockets of the 1%.
While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world's population saw no increase in their wealth last year.
"The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system," said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. "The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors."
Oxfam reported that the 42 richest people now own as much wealth the poorest half of the world's population.
Since 2010, billionaire wealth has risen annually by 13%, a rate six time higher than that of average workers.
Key factors contributing to this concentration of wealth, Oxfam found, are erosion of workers' rights, corporate influence in political and labor policy-making, rewarding inherited wealth, tax evasion, and cutting costs to maximize profits for company owners.
"A perfect storm is driving up the bargaining power of those at the top while driving down the bargaining power of those at the bottom," Paul O'Brien, Oxfam America's Vice President for Policy and Campaigns, explained. "If such inequality remains unaddressed, it will trap people in poverty and further fracture our society."
Oxfam pointed to President Trump's policies as widening the gap between rich and poor, and empowering the 1% on the backs of the American working class.
Since taking office, Trump has chosen a cabinet with more billionaires in it than ever before in US history, and whose combined wealth is greater than the 100 million poorest Americans. Oxfam cited Trump's proposed tax and healthcare reforms as policies favoring the super-rich.
Meanwhile, the three richest Americans own the same wealth as the poorest half of the country's population.
Such data underlines the plight of the American poor. Oxfam's report included a portrait of Dolores, a former poultry worker in Arkansas. She and her co-workers were provided so few bathroom breaks at the factory that they were forced to wear diapers to work.
"It was like having no worth," Dolores said. "We would arrive at 5 in the morning... until 11 or 12 without using the bathroom... I was ashamed to tell them that I had to change my Pampers."
Work in the US poultry industry has one of the highest rates of injury in the country. Oxfam found that "repetitive strain injuries can be so severe that after only one year on the production lines, some workers reported being unable to straighten their fingers, hold a spoon or even properly hold their children's hands."
Across the world, poor people's labor fuels the rising concentration of wealth.
"Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few," Oxfam explained. "Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful."
Benjamin Dangl
Benjamin Dangl is a Journalism & Communication Lecturer at University of Vermont. He has a PhD in Latin American history from McGill University and has worked as a journalist throughout Latin America for over fifteen years, covering politics and protest movements for outlets such as Common Dreams, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Nation, Salon, Vice, and NACLA Report on the Americas. He is the author of the books "The Five Hundred Year Rebellion: Indigenous Movements and the Decolonization of History in Bolivia;" "Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America;" "The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia," all published by AK Press. Follow him on Twitter: @bendangl
Forida is a 22-year-old sewing machine operator in a clothing factory in Dahka, Bangladesh. She often works 12-hour days producing clothes for brands such as H&M and Target. Sometimes, during busy production cycles, the hours are even longer.
"Last year, I worked until midnight for a full month," Forida explained. "I used to feel sick all the time. I was stressed about my son and then after I got home from work, I had to clean the house and cook and then go back to work again the next morning. I would go to bed at 2am and get up at 5.30am each day."
Even with the combined income from her husband, Forida's family barely had enough food to eat.
Meanwhile, a CEO from a top clothing brand would have to work only four days to earn what a garment worker in Bangladesh earns in a lifetime.
Forida's story is included in a report released today by the anti-poverty organization Oxfam. The report, Reward Work, Not Wealth, reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive.
Oxfam found that 82% of the global wealth produced last year went to the richest 1% of the world's population. In other words, four out of every five dollars of wealth created in 2017 went into the pockets of the 1%.
While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world's population saw no increase in their wealth last year.
"The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system," said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. "The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors."
Oxfam reported that the 42 richest people now own as much wealth the poorest half of the world's population.
Since 2010, billionaire wealth has risen annually by 13%, a rate six time higher than that of average workers.
Key factors contributing to this concentration of wealth, Oxfam found, are erosion of workers' rights, corporate influence in political and labor policy-making, rewarding inherited wealth, tax evasion, and cutting costs to maximize profits for company owners.
"A perfect storm is driving up the bargaining power of those at the top while driving down the bargaining power of those at the bottom," Paul O'Brien, Oxfam America's Vice President for Policy and Campaigns, explained. "If such inequality remains unaddressed, it will trap people in poverty and further fracture our society."
Oxfam pointed to President Trump's policies as widening the gap between rich and poor, and empowering the 1% on the backs of the American working class.
Since taking office, Trump has chosen a cabinet with more billionaires in it than ever before in US history, and whose combined wealth is greater than the 100 million poorest Americans. Oxfam cited Trump's proposed tax and healthcare reforms as policies favoring the super-rich.
Meanwhile, the three richest Americans own the same wealth as the poorest half of the country's population.
Such data underlines the plight of the American poor. Oxfam's report included a portrait of Dolores, a former poultry worker in Arkansas. She and her co-workers were provided so few bathroom breaks at the factory that they were forced to wear diapers to work.
"It was like having no worth," Dolores said. "We would arrive at 5 in the morning... until 11 or 12 without using the bathroom... I was ashamed to tell them that I had to change my Pampers."
Work in the US poultry industry has one of the highest rates of injury in the country. Oxfam found that "repetitive strain injuries can be so severe that after only one year on the production lines, some workers reported being unable to straighten their fingers, hold a spoon or even properly hold their children's hands."
Across the world, poor people's labor fuels the rising concentration of wealth.
"Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few," Oxfam explained. "Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.