On the occasion of the International Day of Social Justice

The Jordanian Labor Observatory called for the need to invest in social protections in a way that guarantees the promotion of social justice paths that have significantly declined over the past decades.

The Center affirmed that social justice is the main entry point to enable people to enjoy their basic human rights guaranteed by various humanitarian laws and the global system of human rights, and to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

This came in a statement issued by the Jordanian Labor Observatory, one of the programs of the Phoenix Center for Economic Studies, on Sunday, on the occasion of the International Day of Social Justice, which falls on the twentieth of February of each year, and this year comes under the title “Removing Obstacles and Unleashing Opportunities for Social Justice,” according to the nations. United.

The statement pointed out that there are many manifestations of weakness in social justice in Jordan, and the opportunities to access resources that enable all members of society to live in dignity are declining year after year. Noting the significant rise in unemployment rates, especially among youth and women, the low levels of wages and the ineffectiveness of labor policies in general and employment in particular, in addition to the high levels of prices, the poor quality of education and health care, and the fragility and lack of comprehensiveness of the social protection system.

The statement warned that the manifestations of weak indicators of social justice and the exacerbation of manifestations of social inequality and clear economic inequality, resulted from a number of economic and social policies, represented in the imposition of an unfair tax system, as recognized by the government itself, where indirect tax revenues (general tax on sales and taxes) constitute Taxes and customs fees) account for nearly three quarters of the total tax revenues, and they do not discriminate between the poor and the rich, which contributed significantly and remarkably to raising the levels of prices and the cost of living, compared to other countries where income levels are many times higher than their levels in Jordan. The statement pointed out that the income tax applied in Jordan is not fully progressive. It is upward for the middle class only, and it is fixed for those with high incomes, whether individuals or companies.

On the other hand, the statement indicated that government policies regulating social protection are based on providing very low incomes for the poor, and do not work to prevent more citizens from falling into poverty, so we are constantly witnessing a rise in poverty rates, which, according to the government, have reached nearly 24 percent, and to 35 percent, according to the World Bank.

The statement stressed that the recent government decisions not to raise the minimum wage for years to come, and the amendments it proposed to the Social Security Law that would deprive young people of some of the insurances provided by the Social Security Law, and the failure to develop new insurance tools to ensure the inclusion of all workers in Jordan in the social security system, will further weaken them. More social justice in Jordan.

The statement warned that the continuation of these policies will weaken citizens’ enjoyment of their economic and social rights, and will threaten economic, social and political stability. It will also weaken the chances of achieving sustainable economic growth rates capable of generating decent job opportunities, which is the main goal of the economic modernization vision that was recently approved. The basic pillars and objectives of the national strategy for social protection approved by the government in 2019.

The statement called on the government to reconsider all of its economic and social policies and move towards investment in social protections in all its dimensions, and to increase the effectiveness of spending on education, health care and employment, and to review tax policies to be more fair by reducing the general tax on sales and imposing the principle of progression on income tax on individuals and companies, along with Increasing wage levels to boost domestic demand, which is one of the main drivers of economic growth.

(compass)