The Short-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Developing Countries : An Overview Based on a Harmonized Data Set of High-Frequency Surveys
This paper combines new data from high-frequency surveys with data on the stringency of containment measures to examine the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on households in developing countries. This paper is one of the first to document the impacts of COVID-19 on households across...
| 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/285001615830629714/The-Short-Term-Impacts-of-COVID-19-on-Households-in-Developing-Countries-An-Overview-Based-on-a-Harmonized-Data-Set-of-High-Frequency-Surveys http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35290 |
| Summary: | This paper combines new data from high-frequency surveys
with data on the stringency of containment measures to
examine the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
on households in developing countries. This paper is
one of the first to document the impacts of COVID-19 on
households across a large number of developing countries
and to do so for a comparable time-period, corresponding
to the peak of the pandemic-induced drop in human
mobility, and the first to systematically analyze the cross- and
within-country effects on employment, income, food
security, and learning. Using representative data from 34
countries, accounting for a combined population of almost
1.4 billion, the findings show that in the average country,
36 percent of respondents stopped working in the
immediate aftermath of the pandemic, over 64 percent of
households reported decreases in income, and over 30 percent
of children were unable to continue learning during
school closures. Pandemic-induced loss of jobs and income
translated into heightened food insecurity at the household
level. The more stringent the virus containment measures
were, the higher was the likelihood of loss of jobs and
income. The pandemic’s effects were widespread and highly
regressive, disproportionately affecting vulnerable segments
of the population. Women, youth, and lower-educated
workers—groups disadvantaged in the labor market before
the COVID-19 shock—were significantly more likely to
lose their jobs and experience decreased incomes. Self-employed
and casual workers—the most vulnerable workers
in developing countries—bore the brunt of the pandemic-
induced income losses. Interruptions in learning were
most salient for children in lower-income countries, and
within countries for children in lower-income households
with lower-educated parents and in rural areas. The unequal
impacts of the pandemic across socioeconomic groups risk
cementing inequality of opportunity and undermining
social mobility and call for policies to foster an inclusive
recovery and strengthen resilience to future shocks. |
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