{"id":10788,"date":"2020-05-03T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=10788"},"modified":"2020-05-12T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T14:26:09","slug":"better-recovery-after-new-divides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2020\/05\/better-recovery-after-new-divides\/","title":{"rendered":"Better recovery after new divides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

History is being made by the hour. The current crisis is era-defining to that extent that we are soon likely to talk in terms of \u201cpre-covid\u201d and \u201cpost-covid\u201d. The decisions being made now by those in power will ripple through the years and determine what kind of society we go on to live in.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The spread of Covid-19 shines a light on our economy \u2013 its inequalities, power structures and absurdities. The opportunity is to address some of the cleavages between parts of our society by building a wellbeing economy instead of reverting to the same old structures: building back better rather than returning to business as usual.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 means that the reality is setting in that ours is an economic system which depends on an army of low-paid workers. These are the workers Guy Standing described<\/a> as the \u2018precariat\u2019: without decent security in their work, let alone sufficient pay. Those on zero hour contracts<\/a> in the gig economy or eking out a living as self-employed, but with little command over the rates or regularity of that work. These are the front-line staff of our hyper-flexible economy where humans are treated as just-in-time inventory<\/a> just as much as oat milk for the salariat\u2019s flat whites is. The precariat are already the first losing their hours and their jobs as business dwindles \u2013 as bars close, as people delay haircuts and as events are cancelled. Without savings, they will be amongst the hardest hit and thus compelled to go into work if the work is there \u2013 a form of economic conscription if there ever was one.<\/p>\n

It is the precariat who drive the delivery vans keeping the salariat stocked with avocados and hand wipes, who keep the Amazon-orders flowing in<\/a>, and the Uber-Eats sushi on the table. It is the precariat tending to the frail in nursing homes or stocking the shelves in supermarkets so the rest of society can fill up on necessities while self-isolating.<\/p>\n

Unequal recovery<\/h2>\n

In contrast, many of the \u2018salariat\u2019 (or the \u2018proficians\u2019<\/a> in Standing\u2019s lexicon) have the relative luxury of moving their work from pot-plant filled offices to online conference calls at home. Lonely? Perhaps, but without the risk of bailiffs chasing unpaid bills so long as salaries are still paid.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 is putting into sharp relief the contrast between those with sufficient resources and \u2018human capital\u2019 to command a toe-hold in the economy and those who are simply knocked about by taps on an app and the \u2018Free Next Day Delivery\u2019 obsession<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Precarious work shouldn\u2019t exist \u2013 work should be a route to economic security and sense of purpose. Workers shouldn\u2019t be compelled by economic necessity<\/a> to work when sick and possibly contagious. Government should do all it can to ensure workers don\u2019t face the choice between spreading covid-19 and being kicked out of their house because they can\u2019t pay the monthly rent or mortgage.<\/p>\n

There is a serious risk that, with eyes firmly fixed on a return to \u2018business as usual\u2019 beyond the current situation, the first queuing up for bailouts<\/a> are the very entities which should be powered down in the face of the climate emergency. Meanwhile, those that most need it are left to make do with the already frayed social safety net<\/a> that masquerades as social protection in the UK these days.<\/p>\n

Around the world governments are recognising the needs of vulnerable workers<\/em> \u2013 not just the vulnerable elderly. For example, Ireland is paying 203 euros a week<\/a> to those who lose their job or income or who are self-employed and losing contracts for the next six weeks. The Swedish government<\/a> is also paying sick pay, rather than putting it at the feet of employers and increasing the amount of cover it provides to short-time workers. Even in Australia \u2013 one of the toughest welfare regimes<\/a> in the OECD \u2013 the government is paying $AUD750 tax free<\/a> to those on benefits and to all pensioners.<\/p>\n

Yet these are the sorts of measures that are short-term amelioration \u2013 they help take the edge off an economy that doesn\u2019t do enough to support everyone.<\/p>\n

Real wellbeing is local<\/h2>\n

They are also a sign of how far away the current scenario is from a wellbeing economy<\/a> \u2013 one purposed for and hence designed in a way to deliver good lives for people first time around.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, just as Covid-19 is showing us the stark divides in our economy \u2013 between those who can readily work from their kitchen tables and those forced to deliver to them \u2013 it also is showing us the outline of a better economy \u2013 a wellbeing economy.<\/p>\n

The economic activities most needed at times like these are not the glittering cocktail bars and massive concert venues. They are the unglamorous but necessary pillars of the foundational economy<\/a> \u2013 the schools, supermarkets and hospitals that can\u2019t threaten to up and run at the lightest change in the tax system, entities which require considerable labour input and hence offer local jobs. The places prioritising those who need them most, profit or no profit (the supermarket Morrisons\u2019 recent effort<\/a> being a good example).<\/p>\n

Local supply<\/a> chains are coming into their own as global ones are disrupted by border closures and plane groundings.<\/p>\n

And, perhaps most beautifully, Covid-19 is showing the importance of community ties and informal support<\/a> \u2013 none of which will do much to boost the usual measures of economic \u2018success\u2019 in the form of Gross Domestic Product, but which undeniably will be vital in helping individuals and families survive.<\/p>\n

Local supply chains, the foundational economy, and community support in the care economy are three of the pillars we\u2019ll all need to get through it. They are also three pieces of the jigsaw of a wellbeing economy weall<\/a> need beyond covid-19.<\/p>\n

Communities and individuals are stepping up to the challenges presented by covid-19, recognising that we all need each other and prioritising togetherness even as we are forced to be physically apart. As the inequalities in our economic system are laid bare by this crisis, rather than returning to business as usual, countries such as the UK would be well-served to instead build back better by creating a wellbeing economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First published by Bella Caledonia<\/a> and republished with permission<\/em><\/p>\n

Featured image of Wellbeing Governments conference with Nicola Sturgeon and Iceland’s premier Katrin Jakobsd\u00f3ttir courtesy of Scottish Government flickr<\/a> CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/em><\/p>\n

Further reading: Karin Pettersson, Social Europe, A virus, not a war<\/a>, April 28; Polly Toynbee, Guardian, Led by councils<\/a>, April 28; Andy Haldane, FT, Reweaving social fabric<\/a>, April 24; Robin McAlpine, Source, Recover forward<\/a>, April 23<\/em><\/p>\n

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‘As the inequalities in our economic system are laid bare by this crisis, rather than returning to business as usual, countries such as the UK would be well-served to instead build back better by creating a\u00a0wellbeing economy.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":321,"featured_media":10795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[319],"tags":[604,292],"class_list":["post-10788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-covid-19","tag-wellbeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/321"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}