It is clear that we live in an unequal society

We need new ways to measure progress if we are to achieve social justice, writes Sean Healy

IRISH society has been making a major mistake for several decades. It has believed the narrative that economic growth would lead to all the problems afflicting modern humanity being addressed efficiently and effectively.

This narrative insisted economic growth should therefore be prioritised over all other policies, as the wealth generated by this growth would ‘trickle down’ in a fair and just manner, leading to the relieving of poverty and the creation of a better world for all.

While economic growth has indeed allowed Ireland to improve living standards, invest in infrastructure and public services and become one of the world’s most prosperous countries, the benefits of this improvement in living standards have been distributed in a grossly unequal fashion.

This is true not only in Ireland but in other countries which have followed this same path of prioritising economic growth above all else.

Though Ireland is one of the richest countries in the world, with one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe, more than 750,000 people live at risk of poverty, almost a quarter of a million of whom are children. That is roughly one in six people, and one in five children.

Ireland’s current number of homeless people is not just at a record high but is a multiple of any high previously seen, and there has been no reduction despite seemingly endless rhetoric from Government.

Our public services continue to lag behind the Western European norm: there are more than 500,000 households without quality broadband; Ireland’s under-developed childcare infrastructure leads to reduced economic capacity and increased inequality in the workplace; and Ireland is still lacking a universal healthcare system with a robust primary care network. Our performance on our environmental and climate change targets is an embarrassment.

Many of the crises experienced in the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008 have receded: unemployment has fallen dramatically from 16pc in early 2012 to 5.3pc at the end of 2018. Ireland’s debt levels reached 120pc of GDP but are expected to be 101pc of gross national income (GNI) in 2019 and will continue to fall. Enforced deprivation stood at more than 30pc in 2013 but has since fallen to 18.5pc. Many of these indicators are still too high for Irish society to be satisfied, but progress should be acknowledged.

However, it is clear we live in an unequal society. Without social transfers, 43.8pc of Irish people would be living at risk of poverty. This is a startling statistic and one that should be borne in mind when considering the importance of Ireland’s welfare system. While the effectiveness of the welfare system in this context needs to be acknowledged, it is also clear this kind of inequality is due in no small part to the way we measure progress, and it is not just economic inequality that is the result.

Significant political and social divisions have also emerged since the financial crisis — not just in Ireland, but in the UK, North America and on mainland Europe. At the heart of these divisions is a rejection by many people of how economic resources are distributed, how political decision-making excludes many and how social progress is denied to large numbers of people. A new approach to measuring progress is being demanded.

Placing a primary focus on economic growth leads to policies that only promote one aspect of what can be called sustainable social progress and either ignores or harms other aspects. I am not arguing against prosperity. Rather, I am arguing for a view of prosperity inclusive of all and socially and environmentally sustainable. Driving up GDP leads to a false prosperity, temporary in its benefits, lasting in its costs.

Directly focusing on social and environmental goals, rather than waiting for economic growth to trickle down and produce desirable outcomes, is what underpins the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is also what makes them revolutionary. They reject the idea that economic growth leads to everything else. Clearly the economy and economic growth are important, but they exist in a context, and economic growth is as much an effect of social progress as a potential contributor to social progress.

Here are findings which were set out in the Sustainable Progress Index 2019, published by Social Justice Ireland and measuring Ireland’s performance on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

1. Measuring progress by GDP and other traditional measures is seriously problematic.

2. Develop Satellite National Accounts — GDP is not appropriate for the 21st Century.

3. Ireland’s performance on gender equality is well below the EU average; eliminating the gender pay gap should be a priority.

4. Ireland’s performance on education is good, but there is an issue with those not in education, employment or training (NEETs).

5. It is critically important Government integrates all 17 SDGs into policy-making processes — give them the priority they require if they are to be achieved by Ireland.

6. There is an ongoing need to gather evidence, especially on environmental indicators — this is one of the most urgent issues as many indicators lack the necessary data.

‘Public services lag behind the Western European norm’