Impacts of COVID-19 on Income, Savings and Expenditure for food and non food items of Marginal People at Jhenidah District in Bangladesh: Challenges and Policy Implications

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the Impacts of COVID-19 on Income, Savings and Expenditure for food and non food items of Marginal People at Chittagong District in Bangladesh by using field survey data. Rural economy is quickly expanding; however there are certain socio-economic crisis such as poverty, improper allocation of resources and unemployment. COVID-19 has a substantial impact on Bangladesh’s marginalized population’s quality of life. To cope with this continuous pandemic, many people from the informal economy have been forced to leave their employment and lose their earnings. Across the country, unemployment and poverty are on the rise. Economic growth has not been inclusive in Bangladesh, which has resulted in disadvantaged people becoming even needier as time has gone on. COVID-19 has had a harmful impact on marginalized people’s life. The author found that the containment measures had a number of negative effects on the rural and urban economies. Rural households were required to cut their food consumption and receive government food assistance as well as private sector monetary assistance. Only growth-oriented policy initiatives, according to the author, will be insufficient to rebuild the economy after lockdown. Rather, Bangladesh must embrace employment oriented economic planning that will increase job creation and minimize poverty, income inequality, and resource allocation disparities.