EFE / La Paz
The decrease in income, the increase in self-employment together with access to health or distance education are some of the aspects analyzed in a study by the Center for Studies for Labor and Agrarian Development (Cedla) on the impact of pandemic in Bolivia in 2021.
For the “Report on Multidimensional Poverty and the effects of the Covid-19 crisis in Bolivia 2021”, face-to-face consultations were carried out with people over 18 years of age from 878 households in the nine departments between May and July of last year, the researcher informed Efe this Wednesday. of the Cedla Giovanna Hurtado.
Multidimensional poverty does not only refer to monetary poverty related to insufficient income, but also takes into account “unequal access to resources, monetary or not, services, social protection, access to power and voice or human security, among others dimensions,” he explained.
The study establishes that on average seven out of ten households have an income that reaches up to 460 dollars a month, equivalent to 1.5 minimum wages in Bolivia, this differs from six to eight depending on whether the city or the countryside is taken as a reference. respectively.
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“Seven out of ten households are multidimensionally poor,” said Hurtado.
In addition, “60% of households have seen their monetary income decrease (…) and 8 out of 10 ten did not have enough to make ends meet,” the expert remarked.
The researcher also mentioned that in 2021, in relation to the time before the pandemic, there was a “predominance of temporary hiring” and “outsourcing”, that many had to give up some job benefits while others “have joined independent work” .
In other aspects such as health, the study found that one in three interviewees said they had been infected with Covid-19 and that “a very small percentage say they have received care in a health fund or public insurance” and that they had to be cured in his house.
For his part, regarding education, Hurtado mentioned that both teachers and students “did not have the means or the skills to deal with virtual education.”
Another noteworthy aspect is that “two out of ten households faced a lack of food for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and another three out of ten decreased the consumption of nutritious foods.”
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The research also shows that one in four respondents said they do not belong to a union or trade union organization and that this may be due to “lack of interest”, “time” or that “these institutions do not represent their interests and are not useful to them” Hurtado assured.
It is also established that unpaid domestic work is carried out mostly by women and that this increased after the closure of schools and initial education centers.
Although the study does not establish a general measurement of the Bolivian population, Hurtado pointed out that there could be “higher levels” than those found in a previous study that established that 62% in Bolivia were “multidimensionally poor.”
Hurtado concluded by mentioning that one of the main findings is that “the household economy has been the most affected” in the second year of the pandemic.
