Covid-19 And Its Impact on The Economic State of The World

The Covid-19 pandemic has extreme effects on societies around the world, especially during lockdown, its impact has been especially critical on economic inequality. While the virus on its own effect people across all walks of life, the consequences were not distributed in equality/evenly. Those already living in poverty, working in informal organizations/sectors or those who lacked access to social and economic safety faced a greater challenge, while those who were on the richer part of society were better equipped to be able to cope with this challenge. The disparity extremely widened the pre-existing economic gaps across the world.

One of the most major ways COVID-19 had worsened the economic state of the world was mainly through opportunity as well as high income losses. Millions of workers both in formal and informal sectors, low/ mediocre paying and daily wage jobs lost their source of income due to the lockdowns that had taken place, reduced economic activity and closure of variety of businesses. These individuals had almost little to no savings to use as a safety net and lacked employee benefits in kind. While on the contrary those employees in formal and stable jobs were able to work remotely online and weren’t affected as harshly as those in informal sectors. Therefore, as a result the global pandemic affected the economy quite disproportionately increasing levels of poverty as well as a widened income gap.

The pandemic had also exposed multiple discrepancies in access to healthcare which further increase equality. While richer/wealthier individuals were able to afford private medical care, vaccinations and daily testing while those in poorer communities often faced hospitals that were overcrowded, limited and low-quality resources and high infant mortality rates. Lack of access to proper nutrition as well as sanitation made the weaker section of society more susceptible to the virus creating a cycle of health as well as economic/financial vulnerability. Closure of schools forced online learning which led to many students coming from low-income families to not be able to access digital devices or stable internet. This created a huge learning gap which may or may not have long term implications for future employment opportunities also leading to inequality.

Governments as well as Non-Profit organizations and NGOS had attempted to address these challenges through creation of social welfare programs, financial aid, distribution of food, grants and donations as well as unemployment benefits to the most affected societies, But In many countries these actions were quite limited in scope, poorly implement or not powerful enough to fully fix the widening inequality. This pandemic has shown that without a sturdy safety net both socially and economically, these unexpected crises harm the poor and vulnerable disproportionately. 

In conclusion, The COVID-19 has both exposed and boosted the economic inequalities globally. This crisis demonstration the effects of health, employment, education and social protection with economic disparity. It is essential for government bodies to strengthen healthcare structures, provide equal/even access to education and ensure financial support mechanisms that reach out to all the sections of society. It is only though inclusive efforts that the long-term effects of this pandemic on economic inequality can be positively mitigated thus in turn creating a more equitable society for the future.