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.
Highlights
In countries with limited welfare provision, such as Chile, families play a central role in protecting individuals from critical situations
The finding reported here evaluate the role played by household structure and socio-economic characteristics in explaining income-generating and expenditure-minimising strategies during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic
Households composed only of older people were the least economically affected as a result of the pandemic, followed by two-generation households composed of adults and older people
Summary
In countries with limited welfare provision, such as Chile, families play a central role in protecting individuals from critical situations. Flows of support among extended family members take place on a daily basis, even if they maintain an independent residence. The implementation of social distancing measures to face the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile, which included localised lockdowns and mandatory mobility restrictions, applied earlier and more stringently for older people (Servicio Nacional del Adulto Mayor, 2020), strained inter-household support networks. With a first confirmed case on 3 March 2020, Chile was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching the highest rate of infections per capita globally by mid-June 2020 (Fuentes and Sanders, 2020). Older people were most severely affected, both by higher rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality, and by the stricter and less flexible confinement measures applied to those aged over 75 (Herrera et al, 2021)
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