Challenges of economic security

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According to the Human Development Report (HDR) of 1994 (p. 25) economic security requires an assured basic income usually from productive and remunerative work, or some publicly financed safety net.

Furthermore, Lawson (2012) says economic security is the freedom from poverty. Poverty is the condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support.  Moreover, Investopedia defines poverty as the state in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials to enjoy a minimum standard of life and well being that is considered acceptable in society.  

To understand economic security we need to go back to the Hobbesian features. The features like ‘equality of need’ and ‘scarcity’ in this case can be used to help us understand the issue of economic security.

As human beings we need shelter, clothing, water and food but most importantly to have access to these basic needs we need money. Having a basic form of income from either productive or remunerative work, or some public financed safety net gives us access to money which can be used to meet our basic needs.

When we look at shelter, whether you rent or own a house, you have to consider the cost of utilities like electricity, water, gas and television. Also, food for the three meals per day is another economic challenge. Running a house incurs a lot of expenses that is why it is important to have either one or two income earners in order to provide for our basic needs.

You all come from a family, and your family lives in a house you consider as a family home. Your parents had to find some from of income in order to feed you and clothe you. In addition, they worked hard to pay your school fees in order for you to progress from the different levels of education to the tertiary level.

You are privileged when you compare yourself to Dorothy from 5 mile settlement in Port Moresby or Benny from Lopre village in Enga Province.  According to the video by United Nations, these individuals face very difficult challenges in the urban and rural settings respectively.

Dorothy’s story is very sad. She depends on the small market table, in the informal sector, to feed her children because her husband has another wife. She has no form of formal education to help her find formal employment with a steady income to take care of her children.

The HDR (1994: p. 25) said that the most insecure working conditions are usually in the informal sector. It is true that the informal sector has the highest proportion of total employment. The data given for Latin America and Africa to show this fact could be the same for PNG.

As a Divine Word University student, you see many people like Dorothy every time you go out the front gate or the back gate of the University. You have settlers from Gav Stoa and from Banana Block selling various items in order to generate income to sustain themselves or meet their needs. People living in Admin compound have the Traffic market and Madang Bakery. Banana settlers, apart from the back gate market area, they also have the space in front of the shops at Treeline.

The Report also highlight another issue related to employment in the developed world. Jobs are difficult to find and keep, this causes many to feel insecure. The Report goes on to give some very interesting statistics to show this issue.

This issue is not isolated to only the rich countries, it is evident every where. In PNG, we have people who are employed but are concerned about their future because of various factors. One factor based on observation is cronyism, since PNG is rank 158 out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perception Index (PNG Vision 2050, 2009: p.9).

Unfortunately, we do not have accurate data to show the unemployment rate of different towns and cities around PNG. This will help us to see which province is growing economically. Also, such data will help us look for possible solutions.

What is the current unemployment rate in PNG? A search on Google shows some websites with different projections. The accuracy of these data is questionable. The CIA World Fact Book gives the estimated unemployment rate for 2008 as the latest. 

The Report talks about government support in the form of publicly financed safety net. For example, the Australian government has the benefits and payments system administered by the Department of Human Services. Centerlink delivers a range of payments and services for people at times of major change which includes jobseekers.

For PNG, the burden is on the extended family. The family provides that safety net by housing and financing jobseekers. There is no government system in place to provide benefits and payments to those who lost their jobs and are looking for employment.

Reference

Lawson, S. (2012). International relations (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press.

Government of Papua New Guinea. (2009). Papua New Guinea Vision 2050. Port Moresby, PNG: Government of Papua New Guinea.

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