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Business Reporter
THE Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the normal socio-economic contribution of households to the general economy and access to basics, a survey has revealed.
The pandemic created an urgent need for timely information to help monitor and mitigate the socio-economic impact of the crisis and to help inform policy measures for protecting the welfare of Zimbabweans.
The Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), together with the World Bank and UNICEF, designed a high frequency telephone survey of households to measure the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe and ZIMSTAT was the implementing partner for the survey.
According to the survey, the proportion of households that was able to buy maize meal dropped from 56 percent in round 3 to 38 percent in round 4 while the proportion of households that was able to buy cooking oil increased marginally from 54 percent in round 3 to 56 percent in round 4.
“It was noted that the proportion of households that needed to buy cooking oil remained high but declined from 76 percent in the first round to 70 percent in the fourth round,” Zimstat said in the released survey results.
The high frequency telephone survey was based on the Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (PICES) of 2017 and 2019.
The survey is referred to as the Rapid PICES Monitoring Telephone Survey, and was jointly funded by the Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund (ZIMREF) and UNICEF.
The fourth survey used a sample of 1 319 households covering all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe compared to 1 747 households in the first round.
The survey noted that the main source of income for households was wage employment, which remained unchanged at 20 percent for round three and four.
Assistance from family within the country increased marginally from 17 percent in round 3 to 19 percent in round 4 and this was followed by non-farm family business, which increased from 14 percent in round 3 to 17 percent in round 4.
Under assistance from the Government, the proportion of households receiving Covid-19 cash transfers declined from 4 percent in round 3 to 1 percent in round 4.
“Rural areas received less Covid-19 cash transfers compared to round 3 and during the fourth round and third round 12 percent of the households received food assistance in the form of grain distribution.
“In both rounds, 19 percent of the food assistance was provided to households in rural areas compared to 1,2 percent in urban areas,” Zimstat said in the report.
On employment status, the survey shows that the share of respondents with a job rose to 61 percent in round 4 , being an increase from both the second and the third round survey (52 and 57 percent), respectively.
During the survey period, the employment rate increased marginally from 64 percent in round 2 to 66 percent in round 3 and 73 percent in round 4, while in rural areas it increased from 46 percent in round 2 to 51 percent in round 3 and 54 percent in round 4.
In terms of knowledge and behaviour to Covid 19, during the fourth round survey (May 1 – 27, 2021), the proportion of respondents who avoided gatherings at national level dropped to 45 percent in round 4 from 58 percent in round 3.
“The proportion of households wearing masks dropped from 87 percent in round 1 to 56 percent in Round 4 and the proportion of households who washed hands after being in public dropped from 89 percent in round 1 to 52 percent in round 4 in urban areas compared to 85 percent and 42 for rural areas, respectively.
In terms of access to medication and treatment, the proportion of households that were able to buy medication nationally rose from 75 percent in round 1 to 76 percent in round 3 and further to 80 percent in round 4.
Nationally, the proportion of households that were able to access treatment rose from 79 percent in round 1 to 84 percent in round 3 and dropped slightly to 83 percent in round 4.
In terms of the vaccination, households that were willing to be vaccinated shot 77 percent in the fourth round compared to 63 percent in the third round.
“Households in rural areas were more willing to be vaccinated at 79 percent, compared to those in urban areas at 74 percent. About 15 percent of the households stated that they would not be vaccinated, whilst 8 percent were not sure,” read part of the report.
According to round 4 results, 40 percent of the children paid school fees during the first term as about 31 percent of the households paid school fees compared to 56 percent in urban areas.
Online Reporter