ECONOMICS OF SOCIAL ISSUES

The scourge of gender-based violence is really concerning.

The impending COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the scourge and it requires immediate attention and strategic investment to ensure that we get the nation back on a sustainable growth path. The surge in this violence is envisaged at a time where the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office has been allocated approximately E700 million and resource allocation is critical in mounting a meaningful response against any societal ill.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a human rights violation, but it also has broader repercussions for development. Development is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and demographic components. It is helpful to regard development from the stand point of the functions and capabilities approach if one is to make appropriate links between gender issues in general and economic outcomes.

Economics usually begins by studying two agents, that is the behaviour of the household and the behaviour of firms in an economy. The model can thus be expanded to include the government sector, the financial markets and the foreign sector. Well let me not delve into the mechanics of economics, but let me bring to mind that households consist of humans, who are assumed to supply labour and entrepreneurship to the firms and they in turn get paid wages and profits in return. It is therefore plausible to assume that the human is the basic economic unit and the household is the cornerstone of the economy. Households also participate in the production of labour. The production of the labour force is a biological process that is left entirely to the households. The firms and the market in general expect to receive a person of working age, who will also possess certain attributes lucrative to the market. The unit of labour is expected to be well cultured, well mannered, have proper interpersonal skills and have the discipline to see things through. Most of these attributes cannot be provided by the household through an interaction of the different gender roles for men and women and the society at large.

Functioning

A stable home environment is critical in ensuring that all these attributes can be engendered on the future labour force, it is critical for the efficient functioning of the economy and very critical in curbing social ills that have an adverse impact on economic activity and economic development. The current spate of GBV cases threatens the stability of the household and thereby creating an impending crisis of care which must be swiftly arrested to safeguard future development in our kingdom.

The spill over effects of GBV on the economy is profound. The World Bank estimates that the economic costs of GBV due to lost productivity ranges between 1.2 per cent and two per cent of GDP globally. GBV results in direct loss of productivity as it reduces the health stock of individuals. Emotional abuse affects the victim’s ability to focus at work and produce the best possible outcomes. Basically, GBV results in economic inefficiency. The intergenerational impacts of GBV are also marked; it kills the basic structure of human capital formation and social capital formation which are critical in nurturing the future labour force.

The household has a critical role in ensuring that the future labour force is encouraged, cared for, and built to be the best version of themselves and stand ready to take advantage of economic opportunities afforded them. GBV inhibits the household’s ability to perform this very important task, we are effectively approaching a future with a broken and sad generation, and this only increases the costs of GBV, the future values remain high. The impacts of the crisis of care are already being felt in the markets as millennials enter the labour force. It is my guess that most employers are facing serious challenges managing the dynamic millennial population, I guess we were just not ready for them as employers since they seem to break the norm. This underscores further the importance of a strong family unit.

The problems that we face require that we invest heavily on social protection and social work programmes as a country. In the advent of the crisis of care within the household we need State organs to be able to respond, assist and maintain the basic social fabric and capital that is requisite for growth and development. The social work department needs to be properly equipped and well-staffed to mount an effective response on GBV within the family unit. As a nation we need to invest in temporary homes for the victims and care homes for children who grow up exposed to GBV, this is remedial action to ensure that we safeguard the future. Civil society organisations, under the proper coordination and guidance from the DPM’s Office need to intervene immediately to arrest the situation. Also, increase the budget allocation to the DPM’s Office, it is imperative that we act now.

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