Research

Rights and Responsibilities: Understanding the impact of the tech industry on economic inequality

Digital technologies have the potential to either ameliorate or worsen the dynamics underlying poverty and inequality, depending on how those technologies are designed, developed, deployed, and used, as well as on the degree to which the businesses, and business models behind them, respect the rights of users and workers. This paper recommends changes in corporate and government policies and practices to ensure that the information and communication technology (ICT) industry respects human rights and does not exacerbate poverty and economic inequality across five pillars: access and equity, digital civic space, data use and privacy, automation and the future of work, and governance.

The Investor Case for Fighting Inequality: How Inequality Harms Investors and What Investors Should Do About It.

In the paper, Rights CoLab and Oxfam have attempted to capture literature that seeks to address the various risks that inequality can present for investors. The report starts by introducing the topic and outlining companies' contributions to inequality. It highlights efforts of investors that are already addressing the risks of inequality. These investors address such risks as part of their fiduciary duty. The report further features compelling evidence of inequality-related risks both at the systemic and firm level. It concludes by urging investors to mitigate inequality-related risks in their portfolios.

Best and Worst States to Work in the US 2024

The Best States to Work Index, now in its sixth edition, is an index of 27 policies across three themes - wages, worker protections, and rights to organize - for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This index was born in 2018 to analyze which states were stepping into gaps left by federal inaction to protect low wage workers and working families. The report is meant to highlight and celebrate those states seeking to proactively support workers, while encouraging a race to the top for those states at the bottom. The policies tracked in our index are either nonexistent or insufficient at the federal level, so this report is also meant to provide a blueprint for federal policymakers to improve the national landscape for all workers.

Understanding electricity utilities in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of civil society in improving performance, governance, and accountability

Realizing the energy transition in sub-Saharan Africa will necessitate a major role of the electricity utilities in the region. From investing in new generation, to acting as a viable off-taker for privately-owned generators, to building out transmission and distribution infrastructure, to upgrading the grid, to creating a conducive environment for private sector investment; the electricity utilities will be central players. Unfortunately, however, utilities in the region are not in a robust position. Vicious cycles of compromised revenue collection, inefficient capital expenditure and inadequate maintenance spending, result poor service quality, high levels of indebtedness and an inability to borrow the money needed to upgrade the sector. At the heart of these problems are believed to be issues of weak governance.

Despite the centrality of utilities and their generally dire state of affairs, they have not been the focus of civil society social accountability advocacy efforts, and knowledge of their technical workings is generally limited among civil society actors.

Within this context Oxfam has spent 18 months undertaking research intended to inform advocacy on utility governance reform across Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. Further to the country specific work, Oxfam produced a primer on electricity utilities in sub-Saharan Africa, intended as means for bringing newly interested actors up to speed on how to understand and appraise a utility in a specific context. Together this research agenda supports the creation of a network of civil society actors capable of pursuing governance reforms aimed at improving the performance of utilities across the region, to support the energy transition. The four reports can be found below.

The Crisis of Low Wages: Who earns less than $17 an hour in the U.S. in 2024?

According to new data from Oxfam, there are more than 39 million low wage workers in the United States, defined here as any worker earning less than $17 an hour. This translates to 23 percent of the US workforce, or nearly one in four workers in the US. This new research includes a full demographic picture of low wage workers including race, gender, intersecting race & gender, age, parental status, and tipped wage worker status. Our findings demonstrate that women and communities of color, especially Black and Latin or Hispanic workers, are most impacted by low wages and stagnating minimum wage policies. To explore the data, please check out the interactive map.

Care as Essential Infrastructure: Definitions of and debates on care infrastructure from Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, the United States, and Zimbabwe

Drawing on six case studies (Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, the United States, and Zimbabwe), this paper explores the definitions, debates, and demands related to the concept of care infrastructure.

The paper finds the following components of care infrastructure across the case studies: care-supporting physical infrastructure, knowledge production, community networks, national care frameworks and public financing, social protection, and public care services, programs, and regulations. These components of care infrastructure can look different from country to country, based on country-specific factors, including time use related to care, national laws and legal frameworks, and civil society and community mobilization. The existence of different approaches to care infrastructure, even between different stakeholders within countries, highlights the need to consider the local context of any intervention related to care.

The paper also examines the responsibilities of different social actors (communities, civil society, the state, and the private sector) to support care infrastructure, with a focus on the role of the state. Across regions there are significant ongoing debates about the responsibilities of the state supporting and investing in care infrastructure and in advancing care as a right or care as a public good.