Abstract

In Indonesia, and globally, there is increasing evidence that COVID-19 is having varying negative impacts on different social groups. Those already experiencing poverty are less able to take necessary measures to protect themselves, while vulnerable groups are in danger of being plunged further into poverty. Most notably, there are indications of deleterious impacts on women, particularly in regard to domestic and intimate partner violence, and time burdens. In assessing and projecting the impacts of COVID-19, in developing immediate responses, and in identifying longer-term policy directions, it is important to adopt a multidimensional definition of poverty and to ensure analyses are sensitive to gender and to those groups experiencing deepest deprivation prior to the pandemic. This chapter provides an overview of the implications of COVID-19 for people living in poverty. We draw on data from a 2018 study on multidimensional poverty in South Sulawesi, which used the Individual Measure of Multidimensional Poverty (IMMP) to demonstrate the value of measuring multidimensional poverty at the individual— rather than the household—level, and to identify the social groups that were experiencing multidimensional poverty prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those findings now have important implications for projecting how COVID-19 is likely to affect different social groups, and for COVID-19 responses.

Introduction

In Indonesia, and globally, there is increasing evidence that COVID-19 is having different negative impacts on different social groups. Those already experiencing poverty are less able to take necessary measures to protect themselves, while vulnerable groups are in danger of being plunged further into poverty. Projections also indicate the likely emergence of the ‘new poor’, those groups that had moved out of poverty but remain susceptible to shocks. Most notably, there are indications of deleterious effects on women, particularly in regard to domestic and intimate partner violence, and time burdens.

Projections of poverty indicate the likely impacts of COVID-19 in terms of income, but are less able to provide insights into the ways different social groups are likely to be affected by the combination of health crisis, economic downturn and declining incomes, and mobility restrictions. In projecting and assessing the impacts of COVID-19, in developing immediate responses, and in identifying longer-term policy directions, it is important to adopt a multidimensional definition of poverty and to ensure analyses are sensitive to gender and to those groups experiencing deepest deprivation prior to the pandemic.