Childcare workers, hospital cleaners do more good than bankers, economists claim
Childcare workers and hospital cleaners generate more real value for society than bankers and advertising executives, according to a new report by the economics think-tank New Economics Foundation (NEF).
The report uses a specific economic approach* which looks at the social, environmental and economic impact of certain professions, to decide if they create or destroy value through the work they do.
NEF came to the following conclusions about the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in our society.
The Good
The Childcare Worker: for every £1 she is paid, she generates £7-£9.50 of value, both by releasing parents to continue working and by the social benefit to children of learning opportunities outside the home.
The Hospital Cleaner: by providing a valuable service promoting hygiene standards and health, he also contributes towards wider health outcomes. For every £1 he is paid, over £10 in social value is generated.
The Waste Recycling Worker: processing and preventing waste, enabling and promoting recycling, and encouraging re-use of materials all contributes to reducing carbon emissions. For every £1 paid in wages, he generates £12 of value for society.
The Bad
The City Banker: the earnings he takes and the profits he generates come at a huge cost, because of the damaging social effects we have seen as a result of the City’s financial activities. On his salary of between £500,000 and £10m, the City banker destroys £7 of social value for every pound he is paid.
The Ad Executive: his work creates insatiable aspirations and stress, fuels high consumer spending and indebtedness, and causes dissatisfaction, social damage and over-consumption. Top ad execs destroy £11 of value for every £1 they generate.
The Ugly
The absolute villain of the piece, according to NEF, is:
The Tax Accountant: through her work assisting corporations and individuals to minimise tax, she sucks up valuable tax revenues that would have been available to benefit society. For that reason, NEF estimates she destroys £47 in value for every pound she generates.
*NEF based its evaluations on a method of analysis known as Social Return on Investment (SROI)
