Feudalism is alive and well: Did you know that 99% of the labor force of the United Arab Emirates are non-citizen foreigners, and that only 16% of the population are native Emiratis? The largest segment of the population are Indians which consists of 30% of the population (about 2 million individuals). Other large populations of workers come from Pakistan & the Philippines, the majority of foreign workers live in labor camps. All Emirati citizens receive a government stipend. Those who choose to work do so for the government, they feel that working in the private sector is beneath them. emirateseconomist.blogspot/2007/10/uae-welfare-state.html All 800,000 Emirati citizens get free education and health care, and subsidized utilities. Emirati men can claim free land and no-interest loans to build homes. Other benefits include a $19,000 payment toward wedding costs. The handouts, based on traditions of royal patronage dating back centuries to Bedouin society, now discourage citizens from working, academics say. Expatriates outnumber Emiratis and dominate fields such as banking, law and technology. The quandary for Sheikh Mohammed is how to reduce the culture of dependence without alienating his people. ``The relationship between work and income is broken, says Kenneth Wilson, Dubai-based director of the Economic and Policy Research Unit at Zayed University, a school for Emirati women that opened in 1998. ``Thats unlikely to change until the government starts trying to give incentives to work in the private or corporate sector.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 01:01:53 +0000
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