Pandemic affecting families, survey finds

THE Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities across Papua New Guinea with families in the bottom 40 per cent in danger of being left behind, according to a recent household survey.
The joint World Bank and Unicef report based on mobile phone surveys of PNG families, people in the bottom 40 per cent of wealth distribution remained the hardest hit by the pandemic despite slight recovery in employment between last June and December.
Conducted last December, the second World Bank survey (first was conducted last June), showed that inequality had likely increased in PNG in the year since the pandemic began and that the current Covid-19 outbreak was expected to deepen inequalities.
“There were positive signs that PNG was starting to recover from the initial shocks of the pandemic between June and December 2020,” World Bank country manager Stefano Mocci said.