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SECTION 1 2 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
and more likely to attribute their lack of employment to cuts to care services. 117
A recent study in Ghana also found that indirect taxes on kerosene, which is
used for cooking in low-income households, are paid mostly by women. 118
Good policies can promote women’s economic equality
Many of the policies that reduce economic inequality, such as free public
services or a minimum wage, also reduce gender inequality. In South Africa,
a new child-support grant for the primary caregivers of young children from
poor households is better than previous measures at reaching poor, black,
and rural women because the government gave careful consideration to the
policy’s impact on women and men. 119 In Quebec, increased state subsidies
for child care have helped an estimated 70,000 more mothers to get into work,
with the resulting increased tax revenue more than covering the cost of the
programme. 120 Governments must implement economic policies aimed at
closing the gap between women and men, as well as between rich and poor.
People power: Taking on the one percent
To successfully combat runaway economic inequality, governments must
be forced to listen to the people, not the plutocrats. As history has shown,
this requires mass public mobilization. The good news is that despite the
dominance of political influence by wealthy elites and the repression of
citizens in many countries, people around the world are demanding change.
The majority of the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets in
recent protests were frustrated by a lack of services and a lack of voice, 122
and opinion polls confirm this feeling of discontent around the world. 123
“
People are not tolerating
the way a small number of
economic groups benefit from
the system. Having a market
economy is really different
from having a market
society. What we are asking
for, via education reform,
is that the state takes on
a different role.
CAMILA VALLEJO
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE
STUDENT FEDERATION OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHILE 121
“
In Chile, the most unequal country in the OECD, 124 mass demonstrations in 2011
were initially sparked by discontent over the cost of education, and grew to
encompass concerns about deep divisions of wealth and the influence of big
business. 125 A coalition of students and trade unions mobilized 600,000 people
in a two-day strike demanding reform. Elections at the end of 2013 brought
in a new government that included key members of the protest movement
committed to reducing inequality and reforming public education. 126
In early 2010, a series of popular protests against the proposed mass bailout of
Iceland’s three main commercial banks forced the newly elected government
– who had pledged to shield low- and middle-income groups from the worst
effects of the financial crisis – to hold a referendum on the decision. Ninety
three percent of Icelanders rejected a proposal that the people, rather than
the banks, should pay for the bankruptcy. This led to crowd-sourcing of a
new constitution that was approved in 2012, with new provisions on equality,
freedom of information, the right to hold a referendum, the environment and
public ownership of land. 127
History shows that the stranglehold of elites can be broken by the actions
of ordinary people and the widespread demand for progressive policies.
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