
Tech blamed for lack of economic equality global survey shows
Do people blame technology for lack of equality? A median of 31% think robots and computers doing work previously done by humans contribute a great deal to economic inequality. A median of 32% say it contributes a fair amount, a global study comprising 36 countries by US-based Pew Research Centre shows. A study by consultancy EY shows changes in gender pay gaps. Gender pay gap across European financial services boardrooms rose from 31% to 36% between 2019 and 2023 for non-executives, while it narrowed from 7% to 5% across North American boardrooms.
About half of adults in Brazil and Colombia in the Pew study say robots and computers doing the work of humans strongly contributes to economic inequality – the highest shares measured in the survey.
Across most of the other countries, about four-in-ten or fewer see automation as strongly linked to economic inequality.
“In fact, people across many countries give this factor the lowest rating of the six included in the survey.”
“People who describe themselves as belonging to the working or lower social class are more likely than those in the upper or upper middle class to say technology replacing people contributes a great deal to economic inequality.”
The gap is widest in France, where 47% of those who identify with lower classes say automation adds to inequality, compared with 24% of those who identify with upper classes.
Double-digit differences also appear in Argentina, Germany, Greece, Israel, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
In the US 26% of adults who describe themselves as belonging to the lower middle or lower class say automation contributes a great deal to inequality, compared with 15% of those who describe themselves as upper or upper middle class.
“In 10 countries, people with less education are more likely than those with more education to say automation contributes a great deal to economic inequality.”
Key findings from the Pew survey:
- A median of 54% across the countries surveyed say the gap between the rich and the poor is a very big problem. Smaller median shares say the same about the other types of inequality.
- In general, people in middle-income countries are more likely than those in high-income countries to see each form of inequality as a very big problem where they live.
- In some countries, people on the ideological left are especially likely to see economic inequality, gender inequality, and racial and ethnic discrimination as very big problems when compared with those on the right.
- Across the 36 countries, a median of 31% of adults say unequal rights for men and women is a very big problem in their country. Another 31% say it is a moderately big problem.
- People in some middle-income countries are particularly likely to view gender inequality as a very big problem. In Latin America, for example, six-in-ten Colombians consider it a very big problem, as do roughly half of Peruvians. In sub-Saharan Africa, about half of Kenyans and South Africans hold this view, too.
- Of the high-income nations surveyed, people in France, Spain and Italy express the highest levels of concern about gender inequality. On the other hand, only about one-in-ten adults in the high-income nations of Singapore and Sweden see unequal rights for men and women as a very big problem where they live.
- In half the countries surveyed, women are more likely than men to say gender inequality is a very big problem. For example, 34% of women in Greece hold this opinion, compared with 17% of men. There are also large gender gaps on this question in Italy, Peru and Colombia.
The EY study shows:
- Gender pay gap across European financial services boardrooms rose from 31% to 36% between 2019 and 2023 for non-executives, while it narrowed from 7% to 5% across North American boardrooms.
- In Europe, male directors received over $100k more than their female counterparts in 2023, while in North American the gap is just over $16k.
- North American non-exec board directors were paid 38% more than European peers in 2023, due to equity or stock option awards in compensation package, a practice that is virtually non-existent in Europe.
- Within Europe, non-exec directors with c-suite or sustainability experience receive significantly higher remuneration than those with other skill sets.
Omar Ali, EY Global Financial Services Leader, comments: “Competition for boardroom talent is high and increasingly global, and remuneration is becoming a more prominent focus.
“Gender representation across Europe’s financial boardrooms is moving slowly in the right direction, but it still remains far from equal. Data shows that whilst more men sit on committees and occupy more chair roles than women, the imbalance in pay between male and female peers is stark and concerning.”
“Firms across North America lag European counterparts in appointing women to their boardrooms but, when they do, remuneration is on a much more level playing field. Addressing both imbalances will be increasingly key for firms across the global sector.”
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