BRAC on Covid Impact: 95pc surveyed suffered loss of income
51pc households have zero income due to shutdown
Ninety-five percent of the people surveyed across the country suffered a loss of income due to shutdown and social distancing measures enforced by the government in late March to contain the spread of the Covid-19, says a Brac survey.
Household income of 51 percent of the respondents was reduced to zero, while 62 percent of the low-income earners lost work opportunities. The pandemic left 28 percent of the respondents economically inactive, it mentions.
A total of 2,317 respondents -- 68 percent from rural areas and 32 percent from urban areas -- from different socio-economic backgrounds in 64 districts participated in the survey conducted between May 9 and 13.
The findings of the survey titled "Covid-19 awareness and economic impact" were revealed at a virtual press conference yesterday.
According to the survey, average monthly household income of the respondents was Tk 24,565 before the shutdown. It fell to Tk 7,096 in May, registering a 76 percent decline in household income. Loss of income was somewhat greater in urban areas (79%) than in the rural ones (75%).
Respondents from Pirojpur (96%), Cox's Bazar (95%), Rangamati (95%), Gaibandha (94%) and Brahmanbaria (93%) were the worst sufferers in terms of loss of income.
The survey found that average income of women-headed households declined more (80%) than the men-headed households (75%). At least 57 percent of the women-headed households saw their monthly income plummet to zero during the shutdown. It was 49 percent for households headed by men.
The loss of income inevitably impacted food security, particularly of the low-income people. On average, 16 percent of the households reported that they had food barely enough to survive for one to three days.
It also mentioned that a section of the daily wage earners were slowly regaining their livelihood at the time of the survey. Many of them, however, will need support for at least three more months to recover from the pandemic-induced setback.
More than 76% of the respondents practise coronavirus preventive behaviours, while the rest practise those irregularly.
Besides, 78 percent of the respondents feel that there is no chance or very little chance of getting infected with coronavirus.
Such beliefs may make people reluctant to maintain precautions against the virus, observes the survey.
It also found that the need for assistance is higher in rural areas (72%) compared to urban areas (62%).
Brac Senior Director Shameran Abed said Brac provided emergency cash support to 360,000 families. Under the microfinance programme, savings were returned to 500,000 members to support the economic recovery process.
Shameran put stress on the role of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in taking cash assistance to vulnerable people and enterprises, and said it is challenging to do so through banks since they lack capacity.
"A new mechanism is needed and the mobile banking system is already delivering… people are getting easy access to finance through the system."
Lauding the Brac initiative to return savings to low-income people, Abul Kalam Azad, former principal coordinator of SDG affairs at the Prime Minister's Office, said all the MFIs and NGOs need to follow in Brac's footstep.
"The government is trying to finance the labour intensive sectors so that it can help create more jobs. Skills development training for migrant workers can also help them get back their jobs in the current crisis."
UNDP Resident Representative Sudipto Mukherjee said, "We cannot afford to leave anyone behind. That is more important than being concerned about duplication [on lists of beneficiaries]."
The next plan of action should focus on getting the economy back on its feet, maintaining proper health precautions, he said.
Panellists suggested introducing a "pro-poor lens" to review and implement the recovery and rehabilitation plans as well as the announced stimulus packages and incentives.
Putting emphasis on ensuring transparency of delivery mechanism of assistance and stimulus packages for private sectors, the panellists urged the government to engage NGOs and community-based organisations in monitoring the listing of beneficiaries and cash transfer through mobile banking.
They also suggested preparing a database of beneficiaries to avoid duplication and introducing a prompt complaint redressal mechanism.
Brac Senior Director KAM Morshed moderated the press conference joined by, among others, Prothom Alo Joint Editor Mizanur Rahman Khan and Brac Director Nobonita Chowdhury.