A report published by Oxfam on Monday revealed that the world’s billionaires, 2,153 people, had more money than the poorest 4.6 billion combined in 2019.

 

The charity said in its report called "Time to Care" and released ahead of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, that "this great divide is based on a flawed and sexist economic system that values the wealth of the privileged few, mostly men, while more than the billions of hours of the most essential work, the unpaid and underpaid care work, is done primarily by women and girls around the world."

 

Oxfam calculated that unpaid care work done by women and girls added at least US$10.8 trillion a year in value to the world economy, three times more than the tech industry.

 

"Yet most of the financial benefits accrue to the richest, the majority of whom are men," Oxfam wrote, adding that "this unjust system exploits and marginalizes the poorest women and girls while increasing the wealth and power of a rich elite."