Istanbul Gelisim University - The coronavirus is increasing in the countries with income injustice

The coronavirus is increasing in the countries with income injustice

Evaluating countries such as USA, Brazil and India, which are among the countries where coronavirus is most common in the world, Asst. Prof. Dr. Onur Özdemir said: “When looking at the total of cases in these three countries, it is seen that it is at the top of the world ranking in income inequality.”

Stating that households and individuals in the lower income group have problems in accessing the health services and taking advantage of available resources, Dr. Özdemir from Istanbul Gelisim University said: “All the arising problems trigger the increase of cases more than usual in countries with high income inequality and accelerate the current trend.”

"THEY HAVE HIGH GROWTH RATE BEFORE THE PANDEMIC"

Stating that the top countries in the number of cases and income inequality were observed to have high growth rates before the pandemic, Dr. Özdemir spoke: “Although they have gained a significant share from the global product, it is seen that they have reached this result by highly triggering the dynamics that will increase injustice in the distribution of existing resources related to the growth process. In addition, this is not just an increase in income inequality levels measured on a household basis. In terms of production units, it is seen that the labor sector has a lower share than the total income in the output of the functional income distribution. For this reason, we can analyze once again the effects of the increasing level of injustice in income distribution through the number of cases during the pandemic process.”

Özdemir continued his speech as follows:

“Although the governments of these countries emphasize that the system will not encounter a problem, it remains an important question that the majority of households in the lowest income group can allocate to health services when they are infected. In other words, it seems impossible that households with low income levels, especially in countries where the health sector is relatively expensive, will fight the virus within their own means, without any assistance. Therefore, it is possible that households in lower income groups would stay away from a comprehensive health services and it increases the risk of transmission of the virus after all their efforts to combat the pandemic as income inequality rises. This situation may further aggravate the current economic and social problems due to the pandemic, and may accelerate the increasing trend of injustice in income distribution for future periods. In other words, each process has the potential to affect each other. Thus, it may lead to more serious consequences in the future.”