The foundation of today’s global economic system, namely the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, was established in 1944 through the Bretton Woods Agreement. Both agencies were initially tasked with regulating the international monetary system and rebuilding countries devastated during World War II. Their current mission is to ‘promote macroeconomic and financial sustainability’ and to ‘boost shared prosperity on a livable planet’. Eighty years on from the Agreement, global government debt is on course to hit 100 percent of GDP by 2029 and the world’s poorest countries ‘face the worst debt crisis since global records began’. It’s time for a rethink—could a global living wage be the answer?

The State of Working Poverty

Over a billion people worldwide are trapped in working poverty, earning less than they need to afford a decent standard of living. This means that for a third of the global workforce, having a job holds no guarantee of being able to afford the basics. Workers and their families are struggling to survive, often unable to put food on the table or keep a roof over their heads. Pressure mounts as the cost of living continues to rise and economies flounder.

Against the backdrop of multiple global crises and deepening inequality, trust in our political systems has fallen to a record low. As we consider the risks of an increasingly divided society, a new, people-centred movement that transcends borders is emerging. One that could unlock the drastic change that is so desperately needed if we are to shift away from the dangerous path on which we find ourselves. The movement for a real living wage is taking root around the world, and its potential for social and economic transformation is profound.

Global Development Is Not Working, But a Global Living Wage Could

We are all keenly aware of the impact of reduced aid budgets and loss of public backing for foreign aid in favour of focus on domestic priorities. While governments around the world continue to embrace isolation, the global development organisations they support consider their own survival. Lifting vulnerable communities out of poverty remains the core mission of many INGOs tasked with allocating resources and delivering impact where it’s needed most. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) leads continue to support social and environmental sustainability programmes. But how sustainable can these efforts really be when funding is mostly restricted and requires detailed evidence of short-term impact?

Scrutiny of external agencies in countries where local participation and leadership is missing has also intensified. Campaigns like #ShiftthePower turned popular terms like ‘localisation’ and ‘co-creation’ into a call to action across the global development space to correct power imbalances baked into its operating model.

Read the full article about a global living wage by Matthew Bolton and Katherine Chapman at Alliance Magazine.