Covid-19 forced 2.45 crore people to live below the poverty line as they were struggling with their livelihoods, mounting debt loads and dwindling savings, a new survey found.
The situation of the urban slum dwellers is also dire as their per capita income still 14 per cent below the pre-Covid-19 level, reveals the survey conducted jointly by Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).
The study titled ‘Poverty Dynamics and Household Realities’ conducted between April 2020 and March 2021 was released in a joint press conference held on Tuesday.
The telephonic survey, conducted to get an overview on the changing poverty impact of the Covid-19 and its economic shock on low-income communities, revealed the grim picture.
The report also finds that new poor people still constitute to 14.8 per cent of the total population which was 21.2 per cent in June last year.
The survey also finds that male unemployment dropped to six per cent from 16 per cent and the unemployment rate among female-headed households are five times higher than men.
The survey also finds that more than a third of those employed before Covid-19 had to change their occupation and the majority of the people have moved to the unskilled and labour-intensive professions.
Addressing the press conference, Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman of PPRC said, “Although social protection is playing only a token role in Covid-19 response, it is a critical priority. Parallel to existing safety nets, there is an urgent need for specific new and significant programmes for urban poor and ‘new poor’ with effective targeting and leveraging technology.”
Zillur also said, “To tackle jobless women and ‘new poor’ caught in an emerging poverty trap, an urgent national CSME recovery action plan is essential.”
Imran Matin, Executive Director of BIGD, said, “The unemployment rate among women, caused by Covid-19 is high compared with men as pandemic drove many women out of the labour market.”
In the Covid-19 period, only the agriculture sector has seen positive net growth from pre-coronavirus levels and last year a total of 27.3 per cent of urban slum-dwellers have migrated, of which 9.8 per cent have not yet returned, Matin added.
Incomes have remained lower than pre-Covid-19 levels and expenses such as non-food costs have doubled from June, he noted.
“Savings have dwindled for everyone particularly for the VNP and non-poor and saving has remained substantially lower than pre-Covid-19 levels. At the same time, debt has almost doubled across all groups,” he further said.
Zillur, also the Executive Chairman of PPRC, and Matin, Executive Director of BIGD, presented the findings in a webinar where they highlighted the evolving poverty dynamics and vulnerabilities in Bangladesh.
