The Covid Rouge Shutdowns Could Turn Back the Clock 30 Years on Global Poverty, Push Half a Billion People Into Privation

Half a billion people could be pushed into poverty as economies around the world shrink because of the [hysterical reaction to] coronavirus outbreak, a new study has warned.

Poverty levels in developing countries could be set back by up to 30 years, research released by the United Nations University’s World Institute for Development Economics Research warned on Thursday.

“The impact will be quite devastating,” said co-author Andy Sumner, international development professor at King’s College London, who warned of a “poverty tsunami”.

“Covid could lead to a very large increase in global poverty, in fact it could send the world back 10 years and could send some regions back 30 years,” said Sumner.

The researchers used World Bank data to measure the effects of reduced amounts of money being spent in economies at three poverty levels – $1.90 (£1.53), $3.20 and $5.50 per day.

The results showed that even if consumption shrunk by 5% – the smallest impact they modelled – it would lead to the first increase in income-related poverty since 1990.

The report’s authors based their research on models that calculated whether consumption would shrink by 5%, 10% or 20%.

The worst impacts were likely to be felt in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where the report estimated 80% of people newly forced into poverty would be located, based on a poverty level of $1.90 a day and a contraction of 10%.

East Asia would host a higher proportion, however, if the broader understanding of poverty levels was taken into account, making up 40% of the newly poor at the $5.50 per day line of poverty.

Source: The Guardian