Household Coping Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile

Abstract

Chile was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of social distancing measures strongly affected the Chilean economy: the unemployment rate grew rapidly as well as the proportion of population temporarily excluded from the labour force. This article analyses the strategies deployed by Chilean households to cope with the impact of the pandemic at the intersection with household structure and its socio-economics characteristics. Secondary data analysis from the Encuesta Social COVID-19 (COVID-19 Social Survey), carried out by the Chilean Ministry for Social Development and Families, were used to analyse the income-generating and expenditure-minimising strategies adopted by households during the early months (March to July of 2020) of the pandemic. The results show that 60.3% of households experienced a drop in family income, 70.3% indicated that they had to use at least one income-generating strategy, and 76.6% at least one expenditure-minimising strategy during the early months of the pandemic. Indebtedness and decapitalisation characterised most of the coping strategies adopted by households. While living in multigenerational households does not protect family members from declining economic well-being, older people living in one- and two-generation households were found to be least affected economically during the crisis. They were also less likely to resort to these coping strategies, insofar as their income was mainly secured from pensions. Although female-headed households did not show a greater reduction in income than male-headed households, they were more likely to adopt income-generating strategies. This article draws attention to the possible effects of decapitalisation and indebtedness on the long-term economic well-being of households with different structures, and the resulting inequalities in their capacity to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The findings suggest that having a source of family income that is not dependent on labour market flows is crucial in times of crises.

Prevalence and Severity of Food Insecurity Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Among Adults and Youth in Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States

“…The observed increases in food insecurity in Mexico versus other countries may relate to the lack of policy responses compared to the other countries in this investigation. Social protection programs such as the Coronavirus Supplement in Australia ( 74 ), the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit ( 73 ), the Emergency Family Income program in Chile ( 75 ), Universal Credit in the UK ( 76 ), and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program in the US ( 73 ) were altered or implemented, potentially contributing to the declines or lack of change in food insecurity observed between 2019 and 2020. In contrast, limited economic responses to the pandemic in Mexico have been noted, for example, including the provision of loans to small- and medium-sized business and enabling advanced withdrawal of pension funds ( 77 , 78 ).…”

Long‐term trajectories of intergenerational coresidence: Evidence of living arrangements patterns in Chile

“…Researchers have stressed that IC is protective against critical events during the life course, such as the transition to adulthood (Nauck & Ren, 2018), the loss of a partner in late adulthood (Roan & Raley, 1996), and the increase in support needs in old age (Zhang et al, 2014). In addition, recent studies on the shock of the COVID‐19 pandemic in families have shown the protective effect of IC in terms of economic stability and availability of care (Ayuso et al, 2020; Cantillon et al, 2021; Gilligan et al, 2020; Palma & Araos, 2021). This is particularly important in countries with limited welfare provision, such as Latin American countries, where intergenerational support plays a central role in meeting basic needs.…”

Household Food Security During the Covid-19 Pandemic in the North Surabaya Region

“…Di Chile sebanyak 60,3% rumah tangga mengalami penurunan pendapatan saat pandemi Covid-19 (Palma and Araos, 2021).…”

“…Berdasarkan survey yang dilakukan oleh SMERU, beberapa coping mechanism yang paling umum dilakukan rumah tangga untuk mencukupi kebutuhan sehari-hari selama pandemi antara lain dengan menjual atau menggadaikan barang, mengurangi pengeluaran non makanan, meminjam uang kepada kerabat, mengurangi pengeluaran makanan, dan mekanisme lainnya (Izzati Al, 2021). Sementara itu di Chile, sebagian besar masyarakat melakukan penghematan pada saat awal terjadi pandemi, dan kemudian sebagai upaya untuk coping mechanism terbanyak adalah dengan berhutang dan dekapitalisasi (Palma and Araos, 2021).…”