Coronavirus could push over 1 billion people to extreme poverty, new study suggests

A new study by the United Nations Development Programme revealed that 207 million more people could be pushed into ‘extreme poverty’ by the year 2030. This will be one of the ‘severe long-term’ impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The study also assesses the impact of various COVID-19 recovery scenarios on the Sustainable Development Goals as it evaluates the multidimensional effects of the pandemic. 

Future impact of COVID-19

The study said, “Severe long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty on top of the current pandemic trajectory, bringing the total to over 1 billion by 2030”. The study also revealed that the pandemic will increase the female poverty headcount by an additional 102 million compared to that baseline. The ‘Baseline COVID’ scenario is based on current mortality rates and the most recent growth projections by the International Monetary Fund. As per the scenario, it would result in 44 million additional people living in extreme poverty by 2030 compared to the development trajectory the world was on before the pandemic. 

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The UNDP said, “This ambitious, yet feasible SDG Push’ scenario would lift an additional 146 million people out of extreme poverty, narrow the gender poverty gap, and reduce the female poverty headcount by 74 million, even taking into account the current impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic”. UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said that this new study highlights that the COVID-19 is a tipping point. He said, “We have an opportunity to invest in a decade of action that not only helps people to recover from COVID-19, but that re-sets the development path of people and planet towards a more fair, resilient and green future”. 

Earlier, The World Bank has revealed that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as many as 88 million to 150 million people around the world will likely be forced into extreme poverty by 2021. As per a PTI report, the World Bank also stated that the post-COVID economy will be very different and countries will have to be prepared for drastic changes like allowing resources, capital and labour to move towards different sectors. The exact figure of people that will be forced into extreme poverty will depend on the severity of economic contraction. 

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The World Bank report claimed that the worst affected will be the countries that already have alarming levels of poverty and that 82 per cent of the total people that will slip into extreme poverty will be from middle-income countries. The report also spoke about the success story of Mumbai’s Dharavi, and one of India’s largest urban settlements was able to effectively tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. This was done through a combination of mobilising community members and staff from private medical clinics for a strategy based on mass screening for fever and oxygen levels. 

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The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 65 million people worldwide with the global death toll at 1,536,769. The US has reported a total of 14,983,425 positive COVID-19 cases and a death toll of 287,825.

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