Poverty spikes in Myanmar following second wave of pandemic (Myanmar Times)

Myanmar Times reported in an article on the latest IFPRI study, Poverty, food insecurity, and social protection during COVID-19 in Myanmar: Combined evidence from a household telephone survey and micro-simulations. The second wave of COVID – 19 in Myanmar has had a significant impact on incomes, with a rising number of households now living below the poverty line compared to before the pandemic. Senior Research Fellow Derek Headey says, “In January, before COVID-19, only 16pc of respondents were poor. But now the poverty rate is over 60pc. Worryingly, one-third of households surveyed in the second wave of COVID – 19 said they had no income.” The survey found that income losses were more pronounced among urban households due to the higher number of COVID-19 cases in Yangon, stricter prevention measures in cities, greater dependence of urban households on non-farm livelihoods which were more affected by prevention measures and the significant number of mothers in this sample who had recently given birth.