FREDRICK BEINOMUGISHA: Unemployment and working full-time and not affording basic life needs- Which is the real economic crisis?

A post, reportedly attributed to Andrew Kyamagero, has been circulating widely on social media. Whether or not he is the original author is almost beside the point. What matters is that the message has rapidly gained popularity, especially among Uganda’s educated elite, who continue to share it across different social media platforms.

In today’s digital age, social media is no longer just a space for entertainment. It has become one of the most influential platforms for public dialogue, opinion shaping, and community engagement. The ideas that gain momentum online often influence how society understands its challenges and priorities. That is why we must critically examine messages that attract widespread attention, particularly when they attempt to redefine the country’s most pressing economic realities.

The post reads: “The real economic crisis isn’t unemployment; it’s people working full-time and still not being able to afford basic life.”

Let us pause at the first part of that statement. “The real economic crisis isn’t unemployment…” Those words immediately provoke thought. They challenge us to ask: What could possibly be more economically devastating than unemployment itself?

The statement continues: “…it’s people working full-time and still not being able to afford basic life.” Indeed, that is a painful reality. No reasonable person would deny that millions of hardworking people struggle to meet the cost of food, healthcare, education, housing, and transport despite working every day. Around the world, this phenomenon is commonly referred to as the “working poor.” It is a genuine economic concern and deserves serious policy attention.

However, when both parts of the statement are connected to suggest that unemployment is no longer the real crisis, the argument becomes deeply misleading because working and earning too little is undoubtedly difficult but not working at all – having no income whatsoever, is a far harsher reality.

President Museveni has often emphasized the importance of ensuring that every Ugandan participates in what he calls the “money economy.” I have always appreciated that phrase because it captures a fundamental truth that economic participation begins with earning something, however small. A person who earns a modest income at least has an opportunity to save, invest, learn, improve skills, or gradually build a livelihood. Someone who earns nothing has no such opportunity.

How then do we compare a person who receives no income at the end of the day with one who earns something, however little? To suggest that unemployment is less severe than low wages is rather like a story my grandmother often tells me.

She always recalls a man admitted to Kisinga Hospital in Kasese after her surgery. As the man lay in the general ward, surrounded by patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses, mothers recovering from caesarean sections, and women enduring labor pains, he cried out in pain repeatedly: “Ooweeeehhh! In this whole hospital, I am the only one with the most painful illness!” And his complaint was a severe toothache – he was waiting for it to be removed.

That irony was obvious. His pain was real, but his conclusion ignored the much deeper suffering surrounding him.

Years later, out of curiosity, I tried to settle that debate myself. While my wife was in hospital waiting to deliver our child, I innocently asked her: “Now that you have experienced both a severe toothache and labor pains, which one is more painful?” and the response I received remains one of the sternest corrections I have ever received. She could not believe I was attempting to compare the two.

That conversation teaches me an important lesson, acknowledging one form of suffering should never blind us to another that is objectively more severe. That is precisely the economic dilemma being overlooked by those promoting this social media narrative.

The inability of employed people to afford decent living standards is largely a symptom of deeper structural challenges such as low productivity, inflation, underemployment, stagnant wages, and the high cost of living. These deserve urgent attention. But unemployment itself is an even deeper crisis because it strips people not only of income but also of dignity, hope, confidence, and opportunity.

Uganda’s greatest economic challenge is therefore not choosing between unemployment and low wages as though they are competing crises. Rather, the country must create enough decent jobs while ensuring that those jobs provide incomes capable of supporting dignified living.

A nation cannot celebrate employment if workers remain trapped in poverty. Equally, it cannot dismiss unemployment simply because some employed people are also struggling. The truth is that both problems demand urgent solutions, but one cannot exist without the other. Before discussing whether incomes are sufficient, people must first have an income.

And as the public conversations continue to shape our national thinking, we must be careful not to romanticize catchy social media statements simply because they sound profound. Good public discourse should illuminate reality – not distort it.

Every person in an economy deserves the opportunity to work, earn fairly, live with dignity, and participate meaningfully in the nation’s development. Until every willing Ugandan has that opportunity, unemployment will remain one of our greatest economic crises, not because those who are working are comfortable, but because those who are excluded from work bear the heaviest burden of all. Thank you.

 beinfredrick@gmail.com / 0781871280