TAKING THE PULSE OF THE
CARIBBEAN
MONITORING THE WELFARE
OF CARIBBEAN HOUSEHOLDS
DURING THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC
Results from
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Poverty and Equity Global Practice
June, 2022
The Caribbean
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys The LAC High Frequency
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022
Phone Survey (LAC-HFPS)
The LAC-HFPS monitors the impacts of COVID-19 on
household welfare
Caribbean
Robust
2 Phases Solid Approach Antigua y Barbuda
Methodology Belize
Dominica
• Phase I - 2020: 3 • Representative • Ability to monitor Dominican Republic
waves (May, sample by country multiple Guyana
Haiti
June/July and of the population dimensions of Jamaica
August)➔ 13 +18 with a phone pandemic impacts Central America
Saint Lucia
Costa Rica
countries (only DR • Conducted over over time (multi- El Salvador
in the Caribbean) topic across time) South America
the phone, with a Guatemala
Argentina
• Phase II - 2021: 2 duration of 25 • Standardized and Honduras
Mexico Bolivia
waves (May-Aug mins; strict tailored Nicaragua Brazil
2021; Oct-Dec protocols questionnaire for Panama Chile
2021)➔ 24 guarantee the cross-country and Colombia
Ecuador
countries quality of the data country-specific Paraguay
analytics Peru
Uruguay
Covers several dimensions of welfare Financial contributions from several partners:
Household Digital and
Health Education
demographics Finance
Labor market
Respondent’s
Food security and income Gender
characteristics
changes
The Caribbean
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022 Labor Markets
Employment has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels
• After being severely impacted at the beginning of the pandemic,
employment levels showed signs of recovery in 2021 Many workers have also left the labor force
altogether after becoming unemployed. In the
• But employment in the Caribbean still remains 6 percentage points Caribbean, 9 percent of the prepandemic workers
below prepandemic levels, an almost 2pp larger gap than for the
LAC region as a whole report that they no longer work, and 16 percent have
exited the labor force
Employment to population ratio (18 + years old) Share of pre-pandemic workers who are unemployed or
out of the labor force by Dec 2021
80
Saint Lucia 7% 11%
60
Jamaica 9% 12%
40 Haiti 15% 23%
20 Guyana 7% 15%
0 Dominica 8% 12%
Belize 9% 21%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Wave 2- Dec 2021 Pre-Pandemic (Feb 2020) Unemployed Left the labor force
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
The labor market recovery is accompanied by deteriorating
job quality
Share of employed population with Average hours worked per week
informal job prepandemic and December 2020
Guyana
Informality has increased in all Haiti
the countries in the Caribbean Jamaica
LAC
But the increase has been
St. Lucia
lower compared with the Guyana
44
LAC region LAC 38
Jamaica
Dominica
Belize
People are working fewer hours
Belize
than before the pandemic which St. Lucia
may impact their labor Haiti
Dominica
income 0 10 20 30 40 50
0 50 100
Prepandemic (Feb 2020)
Prepandemic (Feb 2020)
Wave 2- Dec 2021
Wave 2- Dec 2021
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
Labor market impacts have been worse for women, and they
still lag far behind men in the recovery
Women have been more affected by job losses, Unpaid domestic work (household and care
contributing to increased employment gender gaps activities) continues to represent a greater
burden on women’s time. However, a higher
in the region. By December 2021, women were less involvement of men in domestic duties has been
likely than men to be employed. observed as well, suggesting that conventional
time use arrangements at home were disrupted
Gender employment gap (18 + years old) in percentage points during the pandemic.
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
Percentage of population reporting an increase in the
Belize amount of time dedicated
Guyana Education and schoolwork
accompaniment of children
Jamaica
Saint Lucia Childcare(feeding, playing
with children, and caring for
Dominica them)
Haiti
Domestic work (washing,
cooking, and cleaning)
Pre-Covid Post-Covid (December 2021)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
LAC Caribbean
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
The Caribbean
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022 Income and Food Insecurity
After widespread income reductions observed in wave 1, only a few
households saw their income increase in the second half of 2021
Pre-pandemic to June 2021
80%
70%
Households able to cover their
% of households
60% LAC
50%
40%
30%
basic needs are the minority
20%
10%
0% Share of households able to cover their basic
needs in Dec-21 (self-reported):
June to December 2021 Haiti 11%
100%
90%
Jamaica 30%
80% Total income Guyana 36%
% of households
70% increased
60%
50% Total income stayed
Saint Lucia 42%
40%
30%
the same Dominica 43%
Total income
20%
10% reduced
Belize 43%
0%
LAC: Total income LAC 46%
reduced
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
Food insecurity increased most sharply in the Caribbean
Percentage of households that ran out of food due to lack of money or other resources
• Fuel and international 80 80
food prices were rising
Before the pandemic (Feb 2020) December 2021
throughout 2021
• Higher oil and gas 60 60
prices affect food
% of households
% of households
prices in the Caribbean
through higher 40 40
transport costs
• In most countries in
the Caribbean, more 20 20
than 80% of food
consumption depends
on imports 0 0
Ecuador
Ecuador
Mexico
Mexico
Haiti
Honduras
Belize
Bolivia
Panama
Haiti
Belize
Honduras
Panama
Bolivia
Argentina
Dominican Republic
Guyana
Guyana
Jamaica
Argentina
Jamaica
Dominican Republic
Colombia
Peru
Nicaragua
Dominica
Costa Rica
Dominica
Colombia
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
St. Lucia
Chile
St. Lucia
Peru
Chile
Uruguay
Uruguay
El Salvador
Guatemala
Guatemala
El Salvador
Paraguay
Paraguay
• Increases in food prices
usually hit the poor
and vulnerable the
hardest
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
The Caribbean
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022 Education
By the end of 2021, attendance has improved while there
are signs of quality deterioration
Engagement in learning activities is below prepandemic levels. Lower engagement in Proportion of parents reporting that
children are learning less than before
learning activities and low face-to-face attendance may imply long lasting impact on the COVID-19 pandemic
children’s learning outcomes and human capital accumulation in the future
Jamaica
Percentage of School-Age children engaged in learning activities
100 LAC
80 Belize
60
Guyana
40
Dominica
20
St. Lucia
0
Guyana Belize Haiti Jamaica LAC St. Lucía Dominica Haiti
Jun-21 Dec-21 Pre-Pandemic
0 20 40 60
Feb 2020
Note: Children engaged in school are defined as those who: i. report they attend face-to-face classes; ii.carry out activities at home ; iii. not attend face-to-face classes because they were on
vacation, or it was not her/his turn; and iv. not carry out activities at home because they were on vacation, the teacher did not leave homework or participated in face-to-face classes
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
Perception of the quality of education and delivery
modes are associated
A significant percentage of parents reported that children are learning less compared to before the pandemic.
The perception of learning quality has been negatively associated with the likehood of attending online classes
School age attendance in December 2021
learning less than before the pandemic
% of parents reporting that children are
100 100
80 80
ECPE
60 HN GT PY BO
60 CR MX JM
PA
COLACCL
40 SV GY BZ
40 AR LC DM
HT
20 NI
UY DO
20
0
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage of school-age children who attended online classes
In-Person On-Line Hybrid Do not Attend (%)
Note: We define children engaged in school as those who: i. report they attend face-to-face classes; ii.carry out activities at home ; iii. not attend face-to-face classes because they
were on vacation, or it was not her/his turn; and iv. not carry out activities at home because they were on vacation, the teacher did not leave homework or participated in face-to-
face classes.
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
Caribbean
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022 Vaccinations
Vaccination rates improved in the Caribbean, but achieving adequate
immunization continues a challenge in many countries
Wave 1: June 2021
Wave 1 showed that: 100%
80%
Not vaccinated - Not planning to get
vaccinated or unsure
60%
• Vaccination rates in the 40%
Not vaccinated - Planning to get
vaccinated
Caribbean were below the 20%
Vaccinated (at least 1 dose)
0%
regional average, and
Jamaica
Guatemala
Paraguay
Ecuador
Costa Rica
Guyana
Uruguay
Brazil
Chile
Haiti
Panamá
Saint Lucia
Dominican Republic
Nicaragua
Honduras
Belize
Mexico
Colombia
Argentina
Peru
Bolivia
El Salvador
Dominica
Antigua & Barbud
LAC
• Acceptance of the vaccine
stood out as being the lowest
Percentage of population (18+) who received at least 1 dose of the vaccine
Vaccination rates improved 100%
Jun-21 Dec-21
considerably in the second half of 80%
2021 60%
40%
But still below the LAC average;
more severely in countries where 20%
hesitancy was highest in wave 1 0%
LAC Belize Guyana Dominica Saint Lucia Jamaica Haiti
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
Despite improvements, vaccine hesitancy among the unvaccinated
remains high in a group of Caribbean countries
Percentage of unvaccinated population not planning to get Doubts about
vaccinated or unsure effectiveness and concerns
June 2021 December 2021 about side effects remain
70% 70% the top concerns in the
60% 60% Caribbean:
50% 50% 24% of the hesitant do
40% 40% not think it is safe /
30% 30%
have concerns about
LAC side effects
20% 20%
LAC
10% 10%
17% do not think it will
work
0% 0%
Guyana
Mexico
St Lucia
Panama
Jamaica
Chile
Honduras
Dominican Republ
Paraguay
Colombia
Guatemala
Ecuador
Nicaragua
Argentina
Peru
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Haiti
Dominica
Belize
Uruguay
Bolivia
Mexico
Panama
Honduras
St Lucia
Peru
Costa Rica
Chile
Jamaica
Paraguay
Colombia
Guatemala
Argentina
Ecuador
Dominican Republ
Nicaragua
El Salvador
Haiti
Belize
Guyana
Dominica
Bolivia
Uruguay
16 % mention a lack of
information
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
The Caribbean Natural Hazards –
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022 Vulnerability and
Preparedness
Although vulnerability is high, preparedness is insufficient
Wave 2 included a module on vulnerability to natural hazards and preparedness of
households to handle these in Belize, Dominica, Haiti and Saint Lucia
More than 4 in 5 households in these countries are The coverage of community-level disaster management
threatened by a natural hazard resources is also not sufficient, compared to the
proportion of vulnerable households
Early warning
system
100%
80% Disaster
Much fewer households are prepared to handle an 60%
A shelter response or
immediate disaster 40% emergency…
Belize
20% Haiti
0%
Saint Lucia
Committee or
Evacuation Dominica
organized
routes
group
Cyclones and hurricanes are the primary risks
Trained
perceived across the four countries, although community
households tend to face multiple risks (on average members
more than 4)
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
The pandemic affected preparedness of many households
Between a third and two thirds of households are Major drivers are the income shocks resulting of the
less prepared to handle a disaster compared to pandemic
before the pandemic
Reasons for being less prepared
100%
Reduced access to external
16% 14% Dominica
22% assistance to evacuate
80% 34% Saint Lucia
19% Reduced access to external
assistance to food needs Belize
% of households
60%
41%
40% Family has no more savings
33%
40% Family worse off financially
67%
20% 43% Reduced earnings
38% 34%
Lost job/income
0%
Belize Haiti Saint Lucia Dominica
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Less prepared Equally prepared More prepared % of households who are less prepared
Source: World Bank and UNDP (2021) High-Frequency Phone Survey, Waves 1 and 2, Washington DC.
The Caribbean
LAC High Frequency Phone Surveys
Phase II, Wave 1 – Wave 2 - 2022 Concluding
The good, the bad and the way forward
Positives Negatives The way forward
• Labor market recovery • Informality on the rise • Prioritize protecting the poor
ongoing • Male-female employment and vulnerable from further
• Except for Jamaica, better gaps increased shocks in a sound fiscal
perceptions of learning quality • Engagement in learning management framework
activities still below • Consider potential long-term
compared to whole LAC prepandemic levels
region effects of shocks to human
• Worsening food security that capital
• Improvements in vaccination is likely to remain aggravated
rates, especially in Belize and • Continue monitoring the
in 2022
situation of households, and
Guyana • Vaccine hesitancy likely still an development of prices
• Considerable reductions in obstacle to achieving global
immunization targets in Haiti, • Collect the required data –
vaccination hesitancy in Belize many countries in the region do
and Guyana, and general Jamaica, Dominica and Saint
Lucia not have key and up to date
reduction in Caribbean data available
Thank you!
Please check out more information on the LAC HFPS, interactively explore the data and
watch out for updates:
LAC HFPS Website - Monitoring COVID-19
impacts on Households in Latin American
and the Caribbean:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/lac
/brief/monitoring-covid19-impacts-latin-
american-caribbean-households-surveys#2
COVID-19 Household Monitoring
Dashboard:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/data/inter
active/2020/11/11/covid-19-high-
frequency-monitoring-dashboard