As part of the World Bank Group’s analytical work program on More, better, and more inclusive jobs: Preparing for successful industrialization in Ethiopia (funded by the UK Department for International Development), a team of researchers led by Morgan Hardy (New York University Abu Dhabi) and Christian Johannes Meyer (University of Oxford) is deploying high-frequency phone surveys on a representative sample of garment factory workers in Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP) to document how their lives are changing during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. This Rapid Briefing Note reports the preliminary baseline results from 3,163 female respondents, summarizing the more detailed “Living Paper” written by the team of researchers.1 The data collection took place between April 28 and May 26, 2020. 1Eyoual Demeke, Morgan Hardy, Gisella Kagy, Christian Johannes Meyer, and Marc Witte. “The Impact of COVID -19 on the Lives of Women in the Garment Industry: Evidence from Ethiopia”, Living Paper Version 1 (May 31, 2020). The paper is available online at osf.io/e2ukt. The corresponding author, Christian Johannes Meyer, can be reached at christian.meyer@nuffield.ox.ac.uk. 1 A majority of women are still working (56 percent) and almost a quarter have been placed on paid leave (24 percent). Of the remaining workers, 7 percent are on unpaid leave, 11 percent have left, and 2 percent of workers had their contracts terminated. Of those who are not currently working, 91 percent have not found another form of employment, even though many are looking for other livelihood opportunities. Many of those who are not looking are waiting to be recalled to HIP or are too worried about COVID-19. Among those women who have left their job voluntarily or because they were laid off, 81 percent report that they would like to go back to work once the situation improves. Working hours appear to be stable, on average, with 42 percent working the same number of days and hours in the past two weeks as they usually would have. The rest are split between those who report working fewer days and hours in last two weeks (34 percent), and those working more (24 percent). Women who are no longer employed2 are significantly less likely to still be living in Hawassa. For instance, only 44 percent of women on paid leave are currently in Hawassa, compared to 96 percent of women currently working. At the same time, respondents prefer being in Hawassa over being in a rural area: out of those who have left to rural areas, 43 percent report being where they want to be, compared to 76 percent of those currently in Hawassa. When asked about the main barrier for not being able to be in their desired location, about half cite lack of money, followed by lack of accommodation. A quarter of respondents who are currently not in Hawassa cite health concerns as another major reason for not coming back to the city. 2 Those who are on leave (paid or unpaid) or who have left their jobs or been terminated. 2 Workers are well informed about COVID-19 and false beliefs or myths appear to be extremely uncommon. In the baseline survey, a random half of the respondents were asked about their knowledge of and beliefs about COVID-19. Overall, there is very little misinformation about COVID-19: for example, 90 percent of respondents correctly state that there are currently no medicines or therapies that can cure the disease. Of the 10 percent who do think that there are cures, two thirds mention preventative and protective behaviors such as hand sanitizers, face masks, physical distancing or hand washing. Only 2 percent of respondents believe that spiritual beliefs/activities can cure COVID-19, and just 1 percent of respondents mention traditional medicine and food items as a cure. In addition, respondents demonstrate a high willingness to share the WHO health message about the COVID-19 pandemic in their social networks. Almost two thirds of the respondents who received the Diseases commonly associated with increased risk of WHO health message provided the research team with mortality due to COVID-19 are not prevalent among HIP contact data from another individual (such as a friend or workers. The baseline survey collected self-reported data family member) with whom they would want to share this on six health conditions (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, message with. This suggests that outreach and hepatitis B, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic information campaigns through social networks, where kidney diseases, and cancer) that were commonly members of the general public are encouraged to share observed comorbidities at the onset of the COVID-19 relevant public health information with their friends and pandemic. Overall, these health conditions are not common families, hold promise. in this sample of HIP workers, which is not very surprising given workers’ demographics. Only 8 percent of the respondents reported having one of these conditions. Roughly a quarter of respondents have been screened positive for depression. To understand mental health impacts, the 2-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) was administered by phone. PHQ- 2 is a commonly used, quick, self-administered screening instrument to detect depressive disorder.3 It is important to note that the purpose of this instrument is not to establish a diagnosis or to monitor depression severity, but to act as a first step in screening patients. While about one in four respondents have been screened positive for depression, there are no statistically significant differences by HIP employment status in the baseline survey. 3 Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., and Williams, J. B. W. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: Validity of a Two-Item Depression Screener. Medical Care, 41(11):1284–1292. 4 Please consider the following list of health conditions: Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hepatitis B, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney diseases, and cancer. How many of these conditions do you have? 3 • Survey design: The survey was designed as a panel survey with recurring waves every 14 days. The data presented in this note comes exclusively from the baseline survey, which includes information on demographics, current location and migration, employment status, income, savings, and expenditures, and mental health. • Sample size: The survey sample was drawn from an electronic personnel database that includes all production workers and production work applicants in HIP, using April 15, 2020, as a starting point for the sampling frame. No other restrictions are imposed on the data. • Profile of the sample: The study sample is very similar to data in the personnel database in terms of work history. The average worker is a woman, 22 years old, finished Grade 10, was born in SNNPR and has been in HIP for a year and four months. • Ethical considerations: Verbal consent was obtained from all respondents. All respondents that were asked about COVID-19 were also read a detailed information message based on guidance on the World Health Organization (WHO) website at the time of the survey. Lastly, the survey received ethical approval from the University of Oxford Economics Department Research Ethics Committee (protocol #ECONCIA21-21-12). 4