Economic recovery of the new poor created by COVID-19: evidence from Bangladesh

Gomes, Mohima; Jahan, Nusrat; Shatil, Tanvir; Tahsin, Nabila; Das, Narayan; Matin, Imran

doi:10.1080/09614524.2023.2267795

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Disasters disrupt livelihoods and push vulnerable households into poverty, creating the 'new poor', and their coping strategies can keep them in poverty (Karim and Noy 2016 in Gomes et al 2023). Bangladesh witnessed a rise in poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Post-pandemic Period: Bangladesh 'Polycrisis' and The New Poormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This depletion of assets and also in levels of wellbeing is important to explore in the case of new-poor households as these reveal the impact of polycrisis. With respect to depletion, what is important to explore for the new poor is how the social and economic resilience of this group was affected because most people in the networks of this group were also affected by the pandemic and lockdowns (Gomes et al 2023). Thus, the depletion of support networks is also an important element to focus on with respect to how the new poor coped during the pandemic and who recovers.…”

Section: Depletion and Indebtednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High levels of costs of private services meant that the new poor experienced further depletion. for the ultra-poor and vulnerable poor households but do not cover the new-poor households Rahman et al 2021;Gomes et al 2023). This requires further thought in policy.…”

Section: General Observations On the Trajectoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Across locations, the new-poor households reported the need for market interventions, accessing government documentation, assistance with health costs, and education. NGO interventions also need to be designed to provide additional support such as training, care, mental health support, and finding alternative livelihoods outside of agriculture, to the new poor (Gomes et al 2023).…”

Section: General Observations On the Trajectoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The coping strategies of these new-poor households often kept them poor. Studies conducted in Bangladesh (Gomes et al 2023) found that lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, limited state support, and depletion of support networks among friends and family have adversely impacted the newpoor households' recovery process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Being New Poor in Bangladesh: Coping Strategies, Constraints, and Trajectories

Nazneen,

Ahamed,

Aziz

et al. 2024

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Recent studies of the Covid-19 pandemic have found that millions in Bangladesh fell into poverty during this time, and they were unable to recover to their pre-pandemic economic position. This study draws on qualitative panel data collected from 39 new-poor households in Khulna, coping with pandemic-induced shocks and attempting to come out of poverty. How are the new poor attempting to recover: what strategies are they using and what constraints do they face? What are the implications for governance of their efforts? Based on their pre-pandemic economic conditions, we divide these new-poor households into two categories: those that were ‘never poor’ and ‘the vulnerable non-poor’ households. All the new-poor households we engaged with used a variety of strategies to cope and recover which included financial strategies such as borrowing money, livelihood strategies such as having multiple occupations, cost-reduction strategies such as decreasing expenditure on health and education, and social safety strategies such as accessing social protection. The main constraints that these households faced were many. These included their inability to access loans and access finances, limited access to social protection, lack of trust and expectations from the local government to provide services to aid their recovery, and social norms around honour and shame which limited their ability to seek assistance or have female members of the household engage in an income-generating activity. Most ‘never-poor’ households were recovering while most of the vulnerable households were stuck. Governance implications of the experiences of these households include the state playing a bigger role in supporting the new poor, limiting the role intermediaries and informal networks play in how social protection is provided, strengthening practices that build trust in local government, and tackling corruption.

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Section: Post-pandemic Period: Bangladesh 'Polycrisis' and The New Poormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Depletion and Indebtednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Observations On the Trajectoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Observations On the Trajectoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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