E-Paper
Increasing inequality: The signs of our times
This article is authored by Anita Anand, development and communications consultant.
A 2025 report by Oxfam, the global NGO, titled Unequal: The Rise of a New American Oligarchy and the Agenda we Need, highlights the growing number of global billionaires. At the same time, one in four people faces hunger.
‘Billionaires are using their wealth to buy politicians, influence governments, own newspapers or social media platforms, or out-lawyer any opposition to ensure immunity from justice,’ says the report, adding that this phenomenon is accompanied by the erosion and rollback of civil and political rights of the majority and minorities, the suppression of protests, and the silencing of dissent.
How does this affect women, then? Between 1975 and 1995, at the UN World Conferences on Women, and subsequently, there was a consensus that women cannot be empowered unless their economic and political participation is ensured. Now, half a century later, the gains women have made are in serious jeopardy.
Why is this? Governments choose to defend wealth over freedom. Those with the least wealth are becoming politically poor; their voices are silenced as authoritarianism grows and hard-won rights and freedoms are suppressed. Women suffer more.
Women are familiar with authoritarianism and the lack of freedom, as most of them face it from birth to death in families, educational and religious institutions, the workplace, marriage and motherhood.
Decades of research show that equality and justice are essential to women’s empowerment. The Oxfam report suggests that the world is becoming less equal and that justice is declining. This naturally results in a less equal world for women as well.
Oxfam and other civil society organisations working at the global level, including Amnesty International, have over the years warned of authoritarianism growing across and within countries.
A year into President Donald Trump’s rule, many sections of global leadership is prioritising military investment and foreign policy deal-making while rejecting human rights protections and multilateral commitments. This has done serious damage to the hard-won gains in equality, justice and dignity achieved worldwide over the past 80 years. Growing authoritarianism and rising inequality are deeply entwined, as governments side with the powerful rather than the people and choose repression over redistribution.
The report highlights that the most affected are women and girls living in poverty, racialised communities, disabled people, and LGBTQI+ communities, who face exclusion, marginalisation, and shrinking freedoms to protest against their economic hardships. They predominate in the lowest-paid and least protected jobs and are less likely to have land rights.
Women contribute an estimated 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each day, adding at least $10.8 trillion to the global economy. The increasing wealth inequality undermines progress towards gender equality, while promoting so-called ‘traditional’ family systems, often under the guise of ‘protecting women,’ risks further entrenching a patriarchal power imbalance that undermines the rights of women, girls and gender-diverse people, the report points out.
Most critically, economic inequality also translates into political inequality, an essential ingredient of women’s agency and progress. Data from 136 countries confirm that as economic resources become more unequally distributed, so too does political power. This leads to policy outcomes that reflect the preferences of upper-income groups more than those of lower-income groups.
In 2024, around 2.3 billion people were facing severe or moderate food insecurity. Again, women have been disproportionately affected, and in 2025, the food insecurity gap between men and women rose to a level not seen since 2015, constituting a 46% increase since 2023.
Poverty translates into a lack of time and money to participate fully in political life, especially when people have to work multiple jobs and focus on survival. Women in particular experience acute time poverty because of unequal care responsibilities. Acute financial hardship, lasting even a few days, can reduce voter turnout by 4-5%. Bureaucratic hurdles also block the political participation of people living in poverty and women.
Besides time, 45% of the least wealthy lack an ID, a prerequisite for voting. More women than men face this hurdle; World Bank data from 2018 showed that 45% of women in low-income countries lacked the necessary ID, compared with 30% men.
Women living in poverty face additional barriers, including political violence, discrimination, societal stereotypes and institutional norms that restrict their participation and voice, and reduce their engagement with politics.
The World Bank estimates that 3.55 billion people will still be living in poverty by 2029. High- and low-income countries are witnessing a stubborn or widening gap between the richest and the rest. From 2022 to 2023, the wealth gap between the richest 1% and the 50% with the least wealth either increased or stagnated in countries where almost four out of five people (77.8%) live.
Who owns wealth? Men own the majority of the world’s wealth, with women accounting for only 13% of billionaires’ total wealth.
In 2024, more than 680,000 dollar millionaires were created globally, and 5.34 million new millionaires are projected to be created by 2029.
What is being done, and what can be done, about the growing inequality and authoritarianism? Global institutions, such as the UN and the G20, have recognised an “inequality emergency” and called for the creation of an International Panel on Inequality. A UN tax convention is on the verge of becoming a reality.
On the ground, protest is a critical strategy and action against authoritarianism. The report recognises that across continents, there is a tsunami of global protests confronting the rise of the far-right, calling for change from corrupt governments that prioritise profit over people and facilitate the super-wealthy's domination over the lives and liberties of ordinary people.
Are the billionaires listening?
This article is authored by Anita Anand, development and communications consultant.
