Friday, October 12, 2012
Unemployment 30m higher than before crisis: ILO
Unemployment 30m higher than before crisis: ILO
Posted: 12 October 2012 1249 hrs
TOKYO: There are now 30 million more people without jobs around the world than before the global financial crisis began, the head of the International Labour Organization said in remarks published Friday.
The figures come amid a growing debate over the merits of austerity, especially in Europe, where painful budget-cutting has pushed jobless levels as high as 25 percent in some countries, including debt-hit Greece and Spain.
"Global unemployment is still more than 30 million higher than before the crisis," said Director-General Guy Ryder. "And nearly 40 million more women and men have stopped looking for work."
He said around a third of the more than 200 million unemployed around the world are under 25.
"With the world's workforce growing by around 40 million a year, we face large and growing decent-work deficits stretching out years ahead.
"Of those employed, 900 million women and men are unable to earn enough to lift themselves and their families above the $2 a day poverty line."
Ryder said that figure would be 55 percent lower if the poverty reduction trend seen before the crisis had been maintained.
"This means that the damage of austerity measures has been more profound than previously thought.
"There is now an urgent need to revisit the timelines for fiscal balances, taking a much longer view of the time it will take to repair the damage done by the financial excesses of the pre-crisis period."
On Thursday, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said too much austerity too quickly could cause difficulties, particularly if a number of economies were chasing targets at the same time.
In a news conference, Lagarde said the IMF was happy for debt-addled Greece to have an extra two years to get its fiscal house in order, as new figures showed that one in four Greeks is unemployed.
"Instead of frontloading heavily, it is sometimes better -- given the circumstances and the fact that many countries at the same time go through that same set of policies with the view of reducing their deficits -- it is sometimes better to have a bit more time," she said.
"This is what we've advocated for Portugal, this is what we've advocated for Spain and this is what we are advocating for Greece.
"I have said repeatedly that an additional two years was necessary for the country to actually face the fiscal consolidation programme."
Lagarde also warned that while the world economy was still expanding "it's certainly not growing as it should to create jobs around the world", adding that it was crucial "to make sure there are jobs available for young people".
Greece is going through a painful round of austerity and spending cuts imposed on the country in return for promised loans and debt relief worth a total of about 347 billion euros ($448 billion) since 2010.
This week the OECD said unemployment in advanced countries stood at 7.9 percent, or around 47.8 million people, 13.1 million more than at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which provides analysis and policy guidance for 34 leading countries, noted that unemployment rates continued to vary widely in August.
The OECD said unemployment in Spain also stood at around 25 percent, while in Portugal and Ireland it was 15.9 percent and 15 percent respectively.
- AFP/al
- wong chee tat :)
MediShield to be tweaked for better coverage
MediShield to be tweaked for better coverage
By Vimita Mohandas | Posted: 12 October 2012 1637 hrs
SINGAPORE: MediShield, the insurance scheme which covers mainly large medical bills, will be tweaked from March next year to provide better coverage for the elderly.
This comes after the Ministry of Health received largely positive feedback after a public consultation in July and August to make MediShield more inclusive.
The ministry will raise the Medisave withdrawal limit for MediShield and Integrated Shield Plans to fully cover basic premiums.
Those who are between 76 and 80 years old can withdraw a bigger amount of S$1,000 instead of the current S$800.
Those who are above 80 years old can withdraw up to S$1,200, up from current S$1,150.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a community event on Friday, said the changes will allow more people, especially the elderly, to use Medisave to pay for premiums.
"The withdrawal limits today may not be enough and some of them may have to fork out cash in order to pay for the premiums. That's why we adjusted the withdrawal limit so that most of them will not need to fork out additional cash. They will be able to tap on the Medisave up to the limit to pay for the MediShield," said Mr Gan.
The ministry will scrap the MediShield maximum entry age of 75 and increase the maximum age coverage to 90 to enable those who are healthy but not insured to be covered.
It will consider extending coverage to congenital and neonatal conditions to better support healthcare costs for children.
This will form part of ongoing discussions at the Singapore Conversation and the ministry will study this issue carefully when the review is complete.
Other adjustments include extending the coverage to inpatient psychiatric treatment at S$100 per day and short-stay wards in Emergency Departments.
The deductibles for Class C and B2 bills will also be adjusted. These will be increased from S$1,000 to S$1,500 for Class C bills, and S$1,500 to S$2,000 for Class B2 bills.
The deductible is the amount of a hospital bill that patients have to pay before claiming insurance.
With the enhancements, Singaporeans will have to pay more for their MediShield premiums.
But the government will help to offset the increase with a one-off Medisave top-up of up to S$400 next March.
With the top-up, premiums will rise by no more than S$10 a month, while those aged 65 and below will see an increase of S$5 or less for the next two years.
With annual and one-off Medisave top-ups, MOH says the elderly will in fact be paying less for their MediShield premiums.
- CNA/ir
- wong chee tat :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)