The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions around the world to work remotely—yet this is a true privilege afforded all too few of us.
In the United States, just one third of all workers are able to do their jobs from home, according to the Labor Department.
New data from the International Monetary Fund shows the situation is even more dire in poorer countries, especially for lower-income workers.
“It is much easier to telework in Norway and Singapore than in Turkey, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru, simply because more than half the households in most emerging and developing countries don’t even have a computer at home,” Fund economists wrote in a blog.
Within countries, the Covid-19 crisis is likely to deepen income inequality as it affects poorer workers disproportionately.
“To compound the effect, workers at the bottom of the income distribution are already disproportionately concentrated in the hardest-hit sectors like food and accommodation services, which are among those sectors least amenable to teleworking,” the economists wrote.
Women are also more likely to work in these sectors, while often undertaking the lion’s share of childcare and unpaid domestic work just as childcare services have been thrown into disarray.
Pedro Nicolaci da Costa is a Senior Reporter at Market News International, where he covers Federal Reserve policy and the economy. He has been writing about economics and
Pedro Nicolaci da Costa is a Senior Reporter at Market News International, where he covers Federal Reserve policy and the economy. He has been writing about economics and financial markets since 2001, at Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and Business Insider. Pedro was a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics from 2014 to 2016. In 2010, da Costa co-authored “Cozy Ties at Club Fed,” a report that prompted the central bank to adopt a more transparent communications policy that includes holding quarterly press conferences. His reporting on the failure of some academic economists to disclose financial industry ties resulted in the American Economic Association’s adoption of a new code of conduct. Both articles received journalism awards.