ACCORDING to data from a new survey by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), employment rates in some Latin American and Caribbean countries have experienced a relative recovery although in most, rates fall short of pre-pandemic levels. The quality of available jobs has also declined, as has the number of hours of paid work per week.

The High-frequency Phone Surveys, the second phase of which was implemented this year in 24 countries of the region, provides a snapshot of families’ well-being and their perceptions regarding the crisis. The goal is to take the pulse of the region and measure the impacts of the pandemic in key areas such as the labour market; income and food security; gender equality; and household access to basic services such as education, health (including the COVID-19 vaccine), Internet connectivity and digital finance. The survey took a representative sample of the population aged 18 and over with access to a telephone, in each country.

UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Luis Felipe López-Calva said, “The [novel coronavirus] pandemic underscored the pre-existing inequalities in the region, where the most vulnerable and poorest groups have been disproportionately affected.”

For the region as a whole, the employment rate stood at around 62 per cent, almost 11 percentage points below the pre-pandemic level. Moreover, formal employment fell 5.3 per cent in the region while self-employment grew 5.7 per cent, and the proportion of workers employed in small businesses (maximum of four workers) increased by 8 per cent. These figures point to a deterioration in the quality of available employment. Even among the employed population, regional survey results identified a decrease in weekly hours of paid work from 43 to 37, confirming this negative trend.

The survey data found that 28 per cent of people employed before the pandemic lost their jobs and more than half (17 per cent) of those with a job before the pandemic have left the labour force. These impacts disproportionately affected women with young children: 40 per cent of female workers over 18 with children aged 0 to 5 years lost their pre-pandemic job compared to 39 per cent of women in general and 18 per cent of men.

The pandemic had a greater impact on less educated workers (both men and women). Thirty-five per cent of those with a primary education or less lost their job during the pandemic, as did 28 per cent of employees with a secondary education. Approximately 19 per cent of individuals with a tertiary education became unemployed.

Survey data revealed that as a consequence of labour market setbacks, just over half of the households in the region have not yet managed to recover their pre-pandemic income levels. This situation occurred despite government efforts to help families through direct transfer programmes and other benefits. Approximately 38 per cent of survey respondents had received emergency cash transfers.

Finally, according to the survey results, the use of mobile banking and online transactions (e-commerce) rose sharply during the pandemic. The use of digital payments also increased – currently, 26 per cent of survey respondents said they used mobile wallets. The highest increases were among the rural population, those over age 55, and those with low levels of education (primary or less).