The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken up many sectors over the past two years. Its consequences on the economy are being felt in many countries. Thus, in India the epidemic has accentuated the inequalities between the richest and the poorest; in Mali, it has accentuated the difficulties of access to education for the most disadvantaged, particularly girls.
In India, the income of the poorest 20% halved
In India, a study reveals that in five years, the incomes of the poorest majority have plummeted, while the incomes of the richest have risen sharply. This study was conducted by the Price Research Center, based in Bombay, whose economists questioned 240,000 households between April and October last. Their findings reveal that between 2016 and 2021, the incomes of the poorest 20% of Indians have halved, something that has never happened in nearly 30 years in the country.
We are talking here about informal workers who are already very vulnerable and whose income has fallen to less than 800 euros a year. But this crisis has hit much wider and canceled any increase in resources obtained before the pandemic, even among the middle class, because nearly two-thirds of the poorest Indian population saw their incomes fall sharply. At the same time, the richest 20% have seen an exceptional increase in their income of 39% over the last five years, benefiting from the robustness of the large Indian groups and the flourishing stock market, among others.
India is already considered one of the most unequal countries in the world. This gap is therefore widening even more because of this crisis. This brings out the beginnings of a social drama. “Our study of the urban poor in Bangalore showed that families borrow up to six times their monthly salary to survive, which is dangerous”notes Amit Basole, an economist at Azim Premji University in Bangalore. “Newspapers also carry full pages of people who have to sell their jewelry out of desperation. Banks are also seizing mortgaged houses. Food aid has kept people from starving but now more direct aid is needed.” In May 2020, the government deployed a support fund equivalent to 1% of Indian GDP, which is relatively low. Many therefore hope to see new aid in the next budget, which will be announced in a few days.
In Mali, 67% of poor girls do not go to school
In Mali, it is mainly in the field of education that the Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced inequalities, by complicating the access of young girls to school.
According to Unesco, 11 million girls around the world are at risk of not returning to school after the pandemic. The most affected are between 12 and 17 years old.
For young Malian girls, the phenomenon is particularly important. Still according to the United Nations, 67% of poor girls are not or no longer enrolled in school. This is the highest rate in the world.
Inequalities in access to education have always disadvantaged girls and this is all the more true in the event of a health crisis. “Epidemics that threaten public health do not have the same impact on girls and boys”says Unesco. “This is also the case with Covid-19.” Thus, in Mali, schools closed for seventeen weeks, or almost four months, at the start of the epidemic. If there are no official statistics, international organizations assure it: more girls than boys have not found their way back to school when they reopen.
We can put forward two elements that partly explain this: the decline in public investment in the education sector but also the precariousness of households. Indeed, the most precarious households have seen their income affected by the pandemic. Many no longer have the means to send all of their children to school. In this case, it is generally the girls who are taken out of school first so that they can work or marry. In addition, the pandemic has exacerbated an already very fragile situation. Before the health crisis, between 1,500 and 3,000 schools according to sources had already been closed in Mali because of the conflict. According to Unicef, more than 150,000 Malian children have lost their way to school, including many girls. As a result, in Mali, more than two thirds of young girls are out of school.