The socio-economic impacts of The COVID-19 pandemic in the Caribbean are non-neutral, affecting some persons and entities more than others, with vulnerable groups including children, youth, women and girls, the poor, informal sector workers and small businesses, being among the hardest hit. To curb the rapid transmission of the disease, Non-pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) – full and partial border closures, lockdowns, curfews etc. – have been adopted and are still in place (to varying extents) by governments in the Caribbean, and around the world.
NPIs, while contributing to reduced transmission of the disease have destabilized social and economic activity, producing negative effects for many, with worse impacts for vulnerable groups, as their pre-existing susceptibility to socioeconomic shocks limited their capacity to cope with the effects of the pandemic. Furthermore, the vulnerabilities among the mentioned groups intersect with broader social, economic and environmental regional systemic vulnerabilities, exacerbating the socioeconomic situation for those on the margins. Factors such as under-resourced health systems, weak or non-existent health insurance and social protection for most informal sector workers, limited economic diversification, high unemployment and greater youth unemployment rate, and predilection to natural disasters, hamper governments’ ability to fully respond to the fallout of the pandemic.
Governments have provided a range of measures to ease the socio-economic impact on vulnerable groups. By assessing how vulnerable groups have fared in the COVID-19 pandemic, and how government responses have or have not helped, this research sought to articulate recommendations for policies that would be suitable to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the selected vulnerable groups.
Using case studies of Caribbean countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, with varying levels of vulnerability, this study analysed the impacts of the pandemic and response on vulnerable groups with regard to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), education, food security, income, and business sustainability.
The evidence suggests that the pandemic has further widened inequalities and access to social goods in the Caribbean. Children, youth, women and girls, the poor, informal sector workers, and micro and small businesses, especially those operating informally, are more susceptible to the socio-economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 crisis, given their inherent though mostly structural greater level of dependency on others, and unequal access to resources.
The pandemic has impacted all people’s savings and income earning potential, but the poor have been most affected. Households with children and youth, and people with disabilities, are in the greatest need of social assistance. Pandemic-related relief often excluded informal sector workers and businesses, though informal small businesses have experienced some of the worst impacts, particularly as relates to their household expenses.
The impact of COVID-19 via school
The pandemic has impacted all people’s savings and income earning potential, but the poor have been most affected. Households with children and youth, and people with disabilities, are in the greatest need of social assistance.
Closures and the shift to remote learning have been injurious to students’ learning, mental health, and development. Learning from home has negatively impacted the majority of students. The greatest challenges reported were difficulty in focusing on schoolwork in the absence of a learning-conducive environment at home, and lack of access to internet and electronic device access. The challenges to learning from home were worse for students in poor households. Governments have taken steps to increase access to devices for students, yet gaps remain. Regardless of these efforts, the lack of physical presence in a classroom, and interaction with teachers and fellow students, detracts from engagement and learning.
Dependence on social assistance for feeding the poor has increased while the non-poor appear to be increasingly at risk of becoming more dependent on the state for food assistance. Access to food and consumption during the lockdowns has affected both the poor and non-poor, though it is more severe for the poor and households with children. More female-headed households appear to be receiving food support, which is appropriate considering they are generally worse off than male-headed households.
With decreasing availability of budgets for social assistance, a multi-faceted approach is required which targets those most in need and with the least ability to cope. Accessing hygiene products seemed to be a greater challenge than accessing water services, more so for the poor, yet these are both needs in the context of the pandemic. While care packages were provided in the Jamaican government’s response, this should be provided in all countries.
All households are experiencing decreased income because of the pandemic. Women have experienced increased care burdens which is having a negative impact on their income, at the same time as more women are becoming permanently unemployed than men, exacerbating their existing situation of having lower incomes, precarious work, and higher unemployment. Youth are impacted by the loss of opportunities for quality social connections and practical skill training, which is likely to further limit their access to the job market. With the economic downturn, many youth, both in poor and non-poor households who have recently graduated with secondary and tertiary level qualifications including TVET have joined the ranks of the previously unemployed. This situation will increase the youth unemployment statistics, which in the Caribbean, is generally double the national level.
Most self-employed persons or small business owners surveyed were unregistered, which makes it more difficult, sometimes impossible, for them and their employees to benefit from social assistance programmes, as most have a registration requirement. While some businesses have made adjustments to their operations by working through containment measures such as greater use of phone or internet for ensuring business continuity, more than half have reported making no adjustment. While about half of the business owners prefer cash grants, their urgent business needs included access to loans, rental subsidies, and training for digital marketing. While governments have provided grants in some cases, a majority of small business owners have not applied or received any benefit from government.
The pandemic’s socio-economic impact has been worse on small business owners than on households with salaried workers and to cover living expenses, more business owners had to spend savings, borrow money, and rely on assistance of extended family.
Governments of the countries within this study have responded to the negative impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups with existing and new social protection measures. There is a considerable demand for social assistance to meet basic household needs, with poor households reporting the need twice as much as non-poor households. However, of those reporting a need for social assistance, the majority said they were unable to access available grants for a variety of reasons. Informal workers were most affected by the loss of income and exclusion from social protection, as they received little or no income loss support.
Those most affected by the pandemic are households with children, youth, women and girls, the poor, informal sector workers, and small business owners.
While it might be becoming more difficult for Caribbean governments to support persons experiencing the fallout from the pandemic, given the constricted fiscal space, continued support for vulnerable persons now, and towards building their resilience, must be priorities. The risk of social and economic fallout is too great.
Caribbean Policy Research Institute
Kingston, Jamaica
