Abstract
PurposeThe emergence of COVID-19 and its spread led to severe social, economic and livelihood impacts around the world. This study documented the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdown on the lower-income groups. Also illustrated the impacts on the attainment of SDGs in the context of the slums of Chittagong City.Design/methodology/approachBoth qualitative and quantitative data have been collected from the 150 respondents through questionnaire surveys in the slums.FindingsThe lockdown led to the decrease of 90% of the respondents' income level and affected the livelihoods of 97.33% of the respondents, with an overall score of 3.22 ± 0.67 on a four-point Likert-type scale. About 96.67% of respondents' psychological conditions have been affected high to extreme, with an overall score of 3.19 ± 0.68. The pandemic affected 74.67% of respondents' food habits, 95.33% of respondents' child education, increased domestic violence and deteriorated social security, basic service facilities and hygiene practices among the slum dwellers. The severity of COVID-19 outbreaks on the lower-income people makes it critical for the government to attain the SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 5 (Target 5.1, 5.2) SDG 6 and SDG 16.Originality/valueThe findings of the study will help governments, policymakers, international organizations to adopt measures to mitigate the effects of the outbreaks.
Highlights
Since February 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has expanded exponentially in almost all countries
3.1 Sociodemographic status of the respondents The study area of this research was some slums in the vicinity of Chittagong export processing zones (EPZs) where most of the people are poor and have no formal education
This study assessed the impacts of COVID-19 outbreaks on lower-income people, especially those living in the slums beside the Chittagong EPZ (CEPZ)
Summary
Since February 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has expanded exponentially in almost all countries. Despite the progress in some countries in handling the epidemic, the daily new cases have been rising about 500 in late February to nearly 600,000 by November, with the possibility of further increases (Rahman et al, 2021). Recent studies show that the developing countries are likely to experience infection and mortality rates greater than the developed countries with the limited health capacities of the developing countries. Research on health effects in developing countries is rapidly increasing, there is little data on the pandemic’s effects on the poor. The available evidence-primarily relies on pre-COVID-19 macroeconomic data and simulation models to predict possible future scenarios based on disease spread assumptions. The attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will become a major challenge for developing countries like Bangladesh by mitigating the effects of the pandemic situation
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