Asia's Workers: Poverty Just a Paycheque Away

New UNESCAP publication warns of severe hardship for millions

BANGKOK - (United Nations Information Services) - Five years after the 1997 financial crisis, many workers in Southeast Asia are just one paycheque away from extreme poverty, according to the authors of a new UNESCAP publication.

"Protecting Marginalized Groups During Economic Downturn: Lessons From the Asian Experience," provides some sober reading and its conclusions call for determined action.

Southeast Asia, is still recovering from the economic shock that accompanied the sudden devaluation of regional currencies.

But the people worst affected were, and continue to be, individuals toward the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.

Many countries in the UNESCAP region still have few or no social safety nets, like unemployment benefits, and it is this disadvantaged group that would suffer most during the onset of a fresh and rapid recession, depression, or currency devaluation. The main fear is job loss due to downsizing and/or restructuring.

The report warns that another financial crisis - or sudden economic downturn - could result in more severe hardship for millions of people across the region, especially for those in the so-called "informal sector," many of whom are self-employed.

This study, through quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted in three countries, Indonesia, Republic of Korea and Thailand, also finds that most of the programmes introduced following the last financial crisis did not benefit persons who lost jobs in the urban formal sector, which is especially vulnerable to fluctuations in the economy and competitive pressure. Women are affected disproportionately.

Aggravating the situation is the pattern of shifting production centers, according to changes in competitive and comparative advantages across the region, further perpetuating the boom-and-bust cycle. The revolution in ICT and a freer flow of goods, services and technologies further exacerbate the situation.

"Protecting Marginalized Groups During Economic Downturn: Lessons From the Asian Experience," advises governments to act now to avoid the socio-economic turmoil that a fresh downturn or crisis could cause by initiating a package of measures: Longer-term public works programmes, coordinated between national, regional and local governments; the creation of national unemployment insurance schemes; microcredit facilities to be made available to the unemployed; information and counseling centers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's), and further encouragement of the long-standing Asian tradition of developing networks of families, friends and communities.

NOTE TO EDITORS: You or your representatives are cordially invited to attend the launch of this publication and a roundtable discussion on the book's findings, Monday, 2nd December, 2002, at the United Nations Conference Centre, Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Room H at 9:00 AM. Refreshments will be served.

For further information please contact:

Mr. David Lazarus
Chief, United Nations Information Services
Tel: 662 288 1861-9 Fax: 662 288 1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

or

Mr. Raj Kumar
Chief, Development Research and Poverty Analysis Division, UNESCAP
Tel: 662 288 1610 E-mail: kumar.unescap@un.org

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