Modern economy creates new insecure social class, says expert
KUALA LUMPUR: Changes in the modern economy have led to a new and growing social class impacted by job and living condition insecurity, says Basic Income Earth Network founder and honorary co-president Prof Guy Standing.
Termed the "precariat," this class includes part-time and gig industry workers, arising from the decline of traditional employment and social safety nets.
Standing stated that individuals in the precariat often miss out on crucial benefits such as healthcare, pensions, and job security, leaving them exposed to financial instability.
He then noted that corporate and household debt is also escalating.
"Insecurity is a pandemic in itself, eroding the mental bandwidth and the capacity to be rational and make future decisions. We live in a world of chronic uncertainty, unable to predict when or who will be hit by a shock, with a diminished ability to cope or recover, particularly for the precariat," he said at the International Social Wellbeing Conference 2025 (ISWC 2025), themed "Living to A Hundred: Are We Prepared?" at the Shangri-La Hotel on Tuesday (June 17).
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