A longer road to equality and recovery

It’s continuously up and down when we talk about post-pandemic recovery. Maybe because we still aren’t post-pandemic when you think about it. While many, if not most, countries have opened their borders and are returning to life as we knew it – the truth is they aren’t doing it because the pandemic is over. They are doing it because we can no longer afford to live in lockdown.

But the virus remains, and if China urging people to stay home if possible is any indication, it’s still something to be concerned about. We saw it recently – the US dollar gained another boost, spurred by defensive buying as many remained on edge about a spike in COVID-19 cases, and two deaths over the weekend in Beijing that made officials tighten restrictions anew.

Because of this, there are more doubts about the easing of pandemic restrictions in China and their strict outlook for a zero-COVID market will continue to be a source of market volatility in Asia and worldwide. After this weekend, another step up in restrictions could happen.

This is just another reminder that while we are moving forward, we remain in the thick of the impact the virus has had on the world and that our road to recovery is still very long indeed. Many people (especially those not worried about their finances, in particular) are rushing back to old routines to make themselves believe that things are “back to normal.”

However, no amount of revenge travel or parties can change the fact that things have been irrevocably changed.

Especially regarding economic progress, and human rights and equality gains these past several years. The pandemic left huge scars on societies and economies, and approaching it as if it didn’t does not do anyone any favors. If we don’t focus on fixing what was lacking pre-pandemic, we haven’t learned the harsh lessons the virus has taught us.

Many countries in Asia, the Philippines included, were ill-equipped to face COVID-19. Many citizens lacked adequate healthcare, social protection, and labor rights. Because of this, so many were without recourse when the virus hit. Over 1.5 million people lost their lives, and more than 150 million were pushed into poverty. The pandemic wiped out most, if not all economic and socio-equality gains in the past several years in one fell stroke.

In the Philippines, this is even more glaringly obvious. We were already dealing with inequality and the great social divide. In a country where the rich are exceedingly wealthy, the opposite is also true. Many more Filipino families have been pushed below the poverty line, and even the tiny sliver of the “middle class” is dangling on edge. The increasing cost of inflation, the loss of jobs, and lower incomes are impacting countless people in the country.

This will continue to happen in the months ahead despite gains in GDP. While many say that the unemployment rate is back to pre-pandemic numbers, the truth of the matter is that there is no quality index on the types of jobs available. While there may be jobs – the lack of quality jobs and adequate income is evident, and with the rising costs of goods and services, many jobs aren’t paying nearly enough for people to survive.

Another important factor contributing to this is the loss of small businesses. Many small businesses were shut down due to the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and loss of income. Many smaller businesses provide quality work for freelancers, creatives, and more. This was heavily impacted when bigger companies began to cut corners and let go of small business contracts to try to handle everything in-house.

For many, the issue was no longer quality, but more of trying to save money. Will this change down the line? Possibly. But for now, continued losses of business and livelihood significantly impact recovery and getting back on track.

This is another factor in recovery – reduced household incomes, inflation in food costs, loss of learning opportunities as schools struggle to survive, and lower remittances due to poverty are other concerns that will continue to impact the road to recovery. If these aren’t addressed soon, the negative impact will continue to worsen.

The pandemic also made gender inequality much worse. What little progress was made pre-COVID is all but gone – especially in the region. Before COVID, women already took a disproportionate share of care responsibilities and unpaid domestic work. With quality job opportunities shrinking and the need for supplemental income, this will only worsen.

With equality issues front and center for many Asian countries pre-pandemic, where does this leave the push to getting to equal sooner rather than later? Many private organizations pushed for equality by 2025, but it looks like it will be even more complicated now. As there is an entire list of issues that need to be resolved, this will most likely continue to get pushed back.

It’s a long road ahead. But while the journey will be arduous, it needs to be purposeful and careful too. We can’t just blindly move forward as if nothing happened. If we do, we are doing a disservice to the hard lessons learned these past two years.

We need a comprehensive recovery plan to make up for what we lost these past several years and build resiliency in the years ahead. After all, like uncontrollable weather phenomena, this is most likely not the last time we’ll see a global health crisis, and we need to be better prepared if it happens again.