The Great Recession, jobs and social crises: policies matter

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to review the social consequences of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. In particular, it looks at impacts on the world of work – unemployment, informal and vulnerable employment, working poor and youth unemployment, and on public health – hunger and malnutrition, suicides, domestic violence and child abuse. In all fronts, the Great Recession had serious adverse impacts and morphed into a global social crisis. The situation is made worse due to obsessions with fiscal consolidation in the midst of tepid and uncertain recovery. The paper argues that policies matter and advocates for strengthening social protection and continued stimulus in order to ensure robust recovery. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a general review and it draws on the findings of the United Nations flagship publication, Report of the World Social Situation 2011. It is an analytical narrative of impacts of on-going economic crisis. Findings – The paper finds a worsening employment situation – rise in unemployment, informal and vulnerable employment, youth unemployment, and working poverty. It also finds adverse public health impacts in terms of rise in malnutrition and hunger, suicide rates, domestic violence and child abuse. Finally the paper finds that policies matters in mitigating worst impacts as well as sustaining recovery. Research limitations/implications – The findings are tentative as the social impacts of economic crisis become obvious after a long time lag. Originality/value – The paper argues that policies matter and advocates for strengthening social protection and continued stimulus in order to ensure robust recovery.