The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the poor: Insights from the Hrishipara diaries

Arbeitspapier

In this paper, we examine the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of the poor. We use an unusually rich data set from a 'financial diaries' study known as the Hrishipara Daily Diaries Project. The data set tracks the economic and financial transactions of 60 individuals and their families in a semi-rural setting in Bangladesh on a real-time basis from October 2019 to September 2020. We document individual diarists' behavioural responses to COVID-19, which reveal the varied experiences of the poor during the pandemic. We find that the pandemic and associated government lockdowns had significant negative effects on the livelihoods of the poor in our study, with financial inflows and outflows, incomes, and household expenditures below pre-pandemic levels during the pandemic period. To cope with the pandemic, households drew down on their cash reserves at home, as well as cutting down on non-food expenditures to protect their spending on food.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-92-9256-984-6
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Working Paper ; No. 2021/46

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Methodology: General ; Health and Economic Development ; Measurement and Analysis of Poverty ; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• Subject: COVID-19 pandemic ; lockdowns ; diaries ; livelihoods ; Bangladesh

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Rönkkö, Risto ; Rutherford, Stuart ; Sen, Kunal
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2021

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2021/984-6
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/243372
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET