We are deeply concerned by the findings of a survey conducted by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), which suggests that the economic shock induced by the pandemic has pushed a whopping 14.75 percent of the country’s population into poverty in one year. Over the past year, we have heard the term “new poor” being used to describe the households whose incomes were severely hit by the pandemic. The survey confirms that a large portion of the population who went below the poverty line during the pandemic have, one year down the line, not received the support they required to recover from it—out of 3.7 crore “new poor” identified in April last year, 2.45 crore are still struggling with rising living expenses, dwindling savings and mounting debt.
We are deeply concerned by the findings of a survey conducted by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), which suggests that the economic shock induced by the pandemic has pushed a whopping 14.75 percent of the country’s population into poverty in one year. Over the past year, we have heard the term “new poor” being used to describe the households whose incomes were severely hit by the pandemic. The survey confirms that a large portion of the population who went below the poverty line during the pandemic have, one year down the line, not received the support they required to recover from it—out of 3.7 crore “new poor” identified in April last year, 2.45 crore are still struggling with rising living expenses, dwindling savings and mounting debt.
