In Article 25 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations recognized in 1948 the basic human right to "security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond ... control." This paper examines how economic insecurity is related to, yet different from, poverty and inequality, why it matters for human well-being and how it has been changing in different countries around the world in recent years. The paper concludes with discussion of how economic insecurity has been and will be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic/recession.
1. What is economic insecurity? -- 2. How is economic insecurity related to, yet different from, poverty and inequality? -- 3. Why might economic insecurity matter for human well-being? -- 4. Why and where have concerns about insecurity grown in the last decade? What changes in recent years were driving increasing insecurity, even before the pandemic? -- 5. Economic insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic - and after???

29 p.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-25) and endnotes.