Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis: Quantitative evidence from nine developing countries

Dennis Egger, Edward Miguel, Shana S. Warren, Ashish Shenoy, Elliott Collins, Dean Karlan, Doug Parkerson, A.M. Mobarak*, Günther Fink, Christopher Udry, Michael Walker, Johannes Haushofer, Magdalena Larreboure, Susan Athey, Paula Lopez-Pena, Salim Benhachmi, Macartan Humphreys, Layna Lowe, Niccoló F. Meriggi, Andrew WabwireC.A. Davis, Utz Johann Pape, Tilman Graff, Maarten Voors, Carolyn Nekesa, Corey Vernot

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

285 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite numerous journalistic accounts, systematic quantitative evidence on economic conditions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic remains scarce for most low- and middle-income countries, partly due to limitations of official economic statistics in environments with large informal sectors and subsistence agriculture. We assemble evidence from over 30,000 respondents in 16 original household surveys from nine countries in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone), Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines), and Latin America (Colombia). We document declines in employment and income in all settings beginning March 2020. The share of households experiencing an income drop ranges from 8 to 87% (median, 68%). Household coping strategies and government assistance were insufficient to sustain precrisis living standards, resulting in widespread food insecurity and dire economic conditions even 3 months into the crisis. We discuss promising policy responses and speculate about the risk of persistent adverse effects, especially among children and other vulnerable groups.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereabe0997
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalScience Advances
Volume7
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Feb 2021

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis: Quantitative evidence from nine developing countries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • Replication Data for: Falling Living Standards during the COVID-19 Crisis: Quantitative Evidence from Nine Developing Countries

    Egger, D. (Creator), Miguel, E. (Creator), Warren, S. S. (Creator), Shenoy, A. (Creator), Collins, E. (Creator), Karlan, D. (Creator), Parkerson, D. (Creator), Mobarak, A. M. (Creator), Fink, G. (Creator), Udry, C. (Creator), Walker, M. (Creator), Haushofer, J. (Creator), Larreboure, M. (Creator), Athey, S. (Creator), Lopez-Pena, P. (Creator), Benhachmi, S. (Creator), Humphreys, M. (Creator), Lowe, L. (Creator), Meriggi, N. F. (Creator), Wabwire, A. (Creator), Davis, C. A. (Creator), Pape, U. J. (Creator), Graff, T. (Creator), Voors, M. (Creator), Nekesa, C. (Creator) & Vernot, C. (Creator), University of California, 25 Jan 2021

    Dataset

Cite this