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This paper combines new data from high-frequency surveys with data on the stringency of containment measures to examine the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on households in developing countries. This paper is one of the first to document the impacts of COVID-19 on households across a large number of developing countries and to do so for a comparable time-period, corresponding to the peak of the pandemic-induced drop in human mobility, and the first to systematically analyze the cross- and within-country effects on employment, income, food security, and learning. Using representative data from 34 countries, accounting for a combined population of almost 1.4 billion, the findings show that in the average country, 36 percent of respondents stopped working in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, over 64 percent of households reported decreases in income, and over 30 percent of children were unable to continue learning during school closures. Pandemic-induced loss of jobs and income translated into heightened food insecurity at the household level. The more stringent the virus containment measures were, the higher was the likelihood of loss of jobs and income. The pandemic's effects were widespread and highly regressive, disproportionately affecting vulnerable segments of the population. Women, youth, and lower-educated workers-groups disadvantaged in the labor market before the COVID-19 shock-were significantly more likely to lose their jobs and experience decreased incomes. Self-employed and casual workers-the most vulnerable workers in developing countries-bore the brunt of the pandemic- induced income losses. Interruptions in learning were most salient for children in lower-income countries, and within countries for children in lower-income households with lower-educated parents and in rural areas. The unequal impacts of the pandemic across socioeconomic groups risk cementing inequality of opportunity and undermining social mobility and call for policies to foster an inclusive recovery and strengthen resilience to future shocks.

Agriculture --- Coronavirus --- COVID-19 --- Disease Control and Prevention --- Employment --- Employment and Unemployment --- Food Security --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Household Survey --- Household Welfare --- Income Loss --- Inequality --- Labor Markets --- Learning Loss --- Pandemic Impact --- Poverty Reduction --- School Closure

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School closures due to COVID-19 have left more than a billion students out of school. This paper presents the results of simulations considering three, five and seven months of school closure and different levels of mitigation effectiveness resulting in optimistic, intermediate and pessimistic global scenarios. Using data on 157 countries, the analysis finds that the global level of schooling and learning will fall. COVID-19 could result in a loss of between 0.3 and 0.9 years of schooling adjusted for quality, bringing down the effective years of basic schooling that students achieve during their lifetime from 7.9 years to between 7.0 and 7.6 years. Close to 7 million students from primary up to secondary education could drop out due to the income shock of the pandemic alone. Students from the current cohort could, on average, face a reduction of USD 355, USD 872, or USD 1,408 in yearly earnings. In present value terms, this amounts to between USD 6,472 and USD 25,680 dollars in lost earnings over a typical student's lifetime. Exclusion and inequality will likely be exacerbated if already marginalized and vulnerable groups, like girls, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, are more adversely affected by the school closures. Globally, a school shutdown of 5 months could generate learning losses that have a present value of USD 10 trillion. By this measure, the world could stand to lose as much as 16 percent of the investments that governments make in the basic education of this cohort of students. The world could thus face a substantial setback in achieving the goal of halving the percentage of learning poor and be unable to meet the goal by 2030 unless drastic remedial action is taken.

Coronavirus --- COVID-19 --- Disease Control and Prevention --- Dropout Rate --- Early Childhood Development --- Economics of Education --- Education --- Education for All --- Health and Poverty --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Learning Loss --- Learning Outcomes --- Pandemic Impact --- Primary Education --- Public Health Promotion --- School Closure --- Secondary Education