Covid-19 and the working class

The Covid-19 pandemic has directly hit the pockets of over half of the country’s working population, according to a worrying new survey. The survey by Dun & Bradstreet Pakistan and Gallup Pakistan found that 54% of the respondents had either lost their jobs or accepted pay-cuts due to the pandemic. Even more worried that they could be sacked in the near future. The only ‘bright spot’ in the survey would appear to be the sample size — only 1,291 respondents.

Still, given that 18% of respondents had lost their jobs and 59% were worried about job security, we can safely assume that even if this is the gloomiest possible picture, the rosier one would not be very heartening either. Then there is the fact that job losses were higher among lower-income workers — people who have little to no savings and could lose everything without steady cash flow. The economic uncertainty has also hit consumer spending, with apparel and footwear sales down almost 40%, and cleaning supply sales booming, up 32%. Even the wealthier respondents saw nonessential spending such as apparel and entertainment crash by over 50% each. This is concerning, because even if the crisis ends in six months, as many believe, the fallout will last for many years after.

There is also the issue of the government’s failure to make something good come out of all this madness. Earlier, we noted that the pandemic presented a golden opportunity to encourage a transition to digital payments. Unfortunately, only 15% of respondents said they had tried using digital payments for the first time, with the number being highest in Sindh, at 21%. It is disappointing that people would still rather risk their health by using ATMs and other contact-based services rather than the safer touchless options that have become widely available. While lack of education is a factor, which banks and other providers should have focused more energy on, the fact is that such transactions also presented significant health benefits. This makes the failure to promote such solutions a failure for the government, especially since it also presented an opportunity to quietly improve documentation of the economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2020.

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