Living Standards of Tunisian Households in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented negative socioeconomic effects on the lives of millions of people across the world, particularly among the most vulnerable groups. The COVID-19 outbreak has exacerbated the issues countries were facing be...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/855721615578920334/Living-Standards-of-Tunisian-Households-in-the-Midst-of-the-COVID-19-Pandemic http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35289 |
| Summary: | The COVID-19 pandemic has had
unprecedented negative socioeconomic effects on the lives of
millions of people across the world, particularly among the
most vulnerable groups. The COVID-19 outbreak has
exacerbated the issues countries were facing before the
pandemic such as the unequal access to basic services,
markets, labor, and capital. Using five rounds of
high-frequency telephone surveys collected by the Tunisian
National Institute of Statistics in collaboration with the
World Bank, this paper analyzes the deterioration in
households’ welfare due to COVID-19, focusing on changes in
the labor market. The results show that although employment
has now rebounded to pre-crisis levels among the
respondents, labor income among wage workers and
particularly the self-employed is still below pre-pandemic
levels. More than half of the households interviewed report
a worsening of their living standards relative to before the
start of the pandemic, and for about 40 percent of the
poorest, welfare levels have continued to deteriorate. In
addition, price increases and a reduction in remittances
threaten to undo the progress that has been achieved in
raising living standards. While waiting for the economy to
rebound, the most vulnerable households will continue to
need income support. |
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