Oxfam International has released a report showing how global inequality has become "out of control" due to biased economic systems.
The Oxfam annual report argued that the state of global inequality is due to world leaders not doing enough to address the widening gap between the poor and the rich. It added that existing economic systems exclude women and allows billionaires to amass wealth that do little to the society.
The 63-page report was released ahead of the upcoming World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland on January 23.
The charity suggested that governments need to impose higher taxes on the wealthy, and allot more spending on child care and health care to ease the burden on women who provide care for children and the elderly for little to no pay.
Key findings of the Oxfam report revealed that the world's 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 4.6 billion people and that the 22 richest men have more wealth than the entire population of women in Africa, which is at 326 million according to the United Nations (UN).
The report also showed that the world's richest 1% have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people and that the value of unpaid care work by women aged 15 and over amounts to $10.8 trillion yearly.
The report stated: "Women are supporting the market economy with cheap and free labor and they are also supporting the state by providing care that should be provided by the public sector. This unpaid work is fueling a sexist economic system that takes from the many and puts money in the pockets of the few."
"Both the dramatic level of economic inequality and the looming care crisis can be tackled, but it will require concerted efforts and bold policy decisions to mend the damage done and to build economic systems that care for all citizens," the report added.
