JEDDAH: Economists, sociologists and Muslim scholars say that the middle class is slowly disappearing and could cause serious harm, such as contributing to a corrupt society rife with crime and prostitution.
They told Arab News the middle class could be preserved through the thorough application of zakat, giving more financial support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and finding more jobs for women.
They said the middle class will help preserve the values and morals of society and added that most developed countries were attempting to maintain this class.
Economists warned the Saudi economy might face a disaster if the middle class disappeared completely.
"It was noted during the past two decades that the middle class started to disappear, giving way to the emergence of a new class. This is an expected development with the increase in the number of population," Khaled Al-Harithy, an economist, told Arab News.
He cited the example of Egypt that had three social classes and was living in prosperity until the 1970s. With the rise in population, Egyptian society got split into two classes, one representing the higher echelons and the other representing the poor.
"The rise in population, high prices and inflation eroded the purchasing power of the middle class, subsequently leading to its disappearance," he said.
Believing that manpower in the Kingdom was not strengthened properly, the economist called for providing working opportunities for women in order to make them effective members of society and enable them to help financially in the running of households.
"Society is still hampering women's chances of finding work despite a Cabinet resolution encouraging their employment. As women represent about 50 percent of society, this negligence will ultimately contribute to the disappearance of the middle class," Al-Harithy said.
He also warned against giving big government projects to giant companies owned by wealthy businessmen, adding this would make the rich wealthier and the poor even poorer. "Some of these government projects must go to SMEs," he said.
Al-Harithy warned that the disappearance of the middle class would be detrimental to Saudi society and could drive a large number of people to become beggars, thieves, crooks, counterfeiters and drug traffickers.
He said that about 90 percent of countries depend mainly on the middle class and added that its disappearance could cause immense economic and security problems.
Hassan Safar, a Muslim scholar, called for reviving the middle class so that there is no huge disparity between the rich and the poor. "Our society should help the poor emerge into a middle class," he added. Safar referred to the concept of Takaful (solidarity) in Islam and said it could be activated to give birth to the middle class. "We can also use zakat money to release prisoners and help poor families and by so doing, we will be bringing back to life the middle class that has disappeared from the scene," he said.
Safar warned that the emergence of rich and poor classes with nothing in between would lead to the wealthy persecuting the destitute, creating social ills which could not be cured easily.
He asked the ministries of social affairs and interior to conduct a joint survey with the help of municipalities and district societies to identify poor families to help them and improve their spending power.
Sociologist and psychologist Jamal Al-Tuwairqi stressed that it was the middle class that would preserve the values and traditions of society.
He recalled that Islam had preserved the middle class through zakat, prevention of bribes, supporting the right people and giving great attention to women. "If we thoroughly apply all the tenets of Islam, we will never lose the middle class," he said.
© Arab News 2011
