The combined wealth of the world's five richest men has more than doubled to $869 billion since 2020, while five billion people have become poorer, an Oxfam report says.
The anti-poverty charity estimated that 148 top companies made $1.8 trillion in profits, 52 percent more than the three-year average, enabling large payouts to shareholders even as millions of workers faced a cost-of-living crisis as inflation real terms led to wage cuts.
The inflation-adjusted rise in the wealth of the top five billionaires was driven by strong wealth gains from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, LVMH boss Bernard Arnault, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and investor Warren Buffett.
It said that, given current trends, the world could expect to see its first trillionaire within a decade, but would not see the end of poverty for more than two centuries.
Meanwhile, nearly 800 million workers saw their wages fail to keep up with inflation over the past two years, resulting in an average annual loss of 25 days of income per worker, according to Oxfam's analysis.
According to the study, of the world's 1,600 largest companies, only 0.4% have publicly committed to paying their workers a living wage and supporting a living wage in their value chains.
How wealthy are the richest people in the world?
5) Warren Buffet, investor – $119.2 billion
4) Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle – $145.5 billion
3) Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder – $167.4 billion
2) Bernard Arnault, LVMH boss – $191.3 billion
1) Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla – $245.5 billion
Source: Oxfam, data correct as of November 2023
Oxfam called on governments on Monday to curb corporate power by breaking up monopolies, introducing taxes on excess profits and wealth and promoting alternatives to shareholder control such as employee ownership.
“This inequality is not a coincidence; “The billionaire class ensures that corporations make them more wealthy at the expense of everyone else,” said Amitabh Behar, interim chief executive of Oxfam International.
The Oxfam report, released as business elites gather this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, found that a billionaire now either runs or is a major shareholder in seven out of 10 of the world's largest companies.
The Davos events were created to promote “stakeholder capitalism,” which, according to the WEF, defines business as not just maximizing profits but fulfilling “human and societal aspirations as part of the broader social system.”
Oxfam said its report, based on data sources from the International Labor Organization and the World Bank to Forbes' annual rich list, shows that these expectations are far from being met.
“What we know for sure is that today’s extreme system of shareholder capitalism, which prioritizes ever higher returns for rich shareholders above all other goals, is driving inequality,” said Max Lawson, head of inequality policy.
“This inequality is not a coincidence; “The billionaire class ensures that corporations make them more wealthy at the expense of everyone else,” said Amitabh Behar, interim chief executive of Oxfam International
Last month, a report from the Center for Social Justice said the UK was at risk of becoming a “two-nation state” not seen since the Victorian era following lockdowns due to COVID-19 has had a “catastrophic impact” on the country’s social fabric.
Around 13.4 million people in Britain lead lives marked by fragile families, stagnant wages, poor housing, chronic illness and crime, the center says.
The report, 'Two Nations: The State Of Poverty In The UK', argues that the most disadvantaged are no better off than they were 15 years ago, at the time of the financial crash, and cites evidence that for many, the jump from welfare has become difficult in the work it's not worth it.
The CSJ study concludes that the pandemic has widened the gap between the so-called “haves” and “have-nots,” particularly for the least well-off.
According to the report, calls to a domestic violence hotline increased by 700 percent during the lockdown.
Oxfam said that given current trends, the world could expect its first trillionaire within a decade, but would not see the end of poverty for more than two centuries (file image)
Oxfam on Monday called on governments to curb corporate power by breaking up monopolies, introducing taxes on excess profits and wealth and promoting alternatives to shareholder control (file image)
Mental health problems among young people rose from one in nine to one in six and among the oldest children rose to almost a quarter.
More and more children were regularly missing school, with the number of serious absences increasing by 134 percent.
1.2 million more people received working-age benefits, 86 percent more people sought addiction help, and prisoners were locked up for 22.5 hours a day.
“There is a growing gap between those making ends meet and those stuck at the bottom,” the findings report.
Six in ten citizens say their area has a good quality of life, but in the most disadvantaged groups the figure is less than two in five.
Covid lockdowns have had a “catastrophic impact” on the country’s social fabric, according to research by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ). Pictured: Central Glasgow during a national lockdown in 2021
Twenty years ago, only one in nine children was diagnosed with a clinically recognizable psychological problem – today it is one in five (archive image)
The CSJ study finds that the pandemic has widened the gap between the so-called “haves” and “have-nots,” particularly for the least well-off (file image)
Twenty years ago, only one in nine children were diagnosed with a clinically identifiable mental health problem. This number is now one in five and almost one in four among 17 to 19 year olds.
If trends continue, the report argues that by 2030, more than one in four five- to 15-year-olds, potentially up to 2.3 million children, could suffer from a mental health disorder.
The CSJ adds that by 2030 there will likely be 108 percent more boys with mental health disorders than would have been the case without the lockdown.
After higher achievement, the most disadvantaged people cite improved mental and physical health as crucial to a better life.
The report found that 40 percent of the most disadvantaged people report suffering from a mental illness, compared to just 13 percent of the general population.