G20 policies "ineffective" at tackling unemployment

Despite reports of lack of quality jobs being created in G20 countries, governments of these nations are still not doing enough to curb unemployment levels of their countries.

According to a new survey of Labour 20 (L20) members by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), 68% of people in G20 economies said their government is bad at tackling unemployment. This includes countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and the United States.

“Governments are prioritising policies which support the interests of big business and not tackling the inequality of wages and rising unemployment,” Sharan Burrow, general secretary, ITUC, said.

In fact, 56% of respondents in the survey stated policies of G20 governments were ineffective in improving outcomes for working people altogether. These included issues related to salary levels and social protection.

Close to eight out of 10 (79%) of respondents believed their economic system favours the wealthy, rather than being fair to most people.

In addition, 62% stated they want their governments to do more to tame corporate power.

The report continuously stressed on the need for these governments to prioritise their efforts on overcoming such challenges for their working professionals.

“Economic modelling prepared for the L20 shows that a co-ordinated mix of wage and investment policies in G20 countries could halve the global jobs gap and create up to 5.84 percentage points more growth in G20 countries, compared to business as usual,” it stated.

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