Livelihoods, Coping and Recovery During COVID-19 Crisis (Phase II)

17, October 2020 | Bangladesh

Authors:

Abstract

The initial panic of COVID-19 in early 2020 has given way to a broader realization that the pandemic is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Policy and social attitudes too have had to adjust with a shift of perspective from ‘life versus livelihoods’—centred on lockdown—to one of ‘life and livelihoods’—centred on the resumption with economic activities albeit with safety measures. In April 2020 when lockdown measures had been put in place, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC)1 and BRAC Institute for Governance and Development (BIGD)2 teamed up to launch a rapid response telephonic survey on the immediate impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods and household welfare.3 The survey (Phase I) utilized respondent telephone databases from earlier surveys in urban slums and rural poor.