Abstract

The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has become a global epidemic, hit Ghana on 12 March 2020 and, in less than a week, increased by over 300% with two deaths. As of 11 August 2020, Ghana had recorded over 41,000 cases with over 215 deaths. This study seeks to provide a micro-level evidence on how COVID-19 is posing a threat to some of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly poverty in Ghana. Specifically, the study examined the effect of COVID-19 on poverty and living standards of Ghanaian households. The study further analysed which class of persons within the income distributions has been mostly hit by the pandemic. Data on 3,905 households were obtained via concurrent online survey and telephone interviews. Multiple analytical approaches were employed―Ordinary least squares, probit model and simultaneous quantile regressions. Results showed that COVID-19 had significantly increased the poverty levels of households while deteriorating living standards. The study also discovered that gender and locational heterogeneities exist regarding the impact of COVID-19 with females and rural dwellers mostly disadvantaged. However, simultaneous quantile regression result shows that in terms of overall household consumption, those in the middle and upper classes are profoundly affected compared to those in the lowest class. A key policy implication from this study is that Ghana needs to broaden its social protection programmes to assist both the new poor and existing poor.

摘要

新颖的2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）已成为全球流行病，于2020年3月12日袭击加纳，在不到一周的时间内，死亡人数增加了300％以上，有2人死亡。截至2020年8月11日，加纳已记录了41,000多例病例，其中215多人死亡。这项研究旨在提供微观层面的证据，说明COVID-19如何对某些可持续发展目标，特别是加纳的贫困构成威胁。具体而言，该研究检查了COVID-19对加纳家庭的贫困和生活水平的影响。该研究进一步分析了收入分配中哪一类人受到大流行的最大打击。通过同时进行的在线调查和电话访问获得了3905户家庭的数据。采用了多种分析方法-普通最小二乘法 概率模型和同时分位数回归。结果表明，COVID-19大大增加了家庭的贫困水平，同时使生活水平下降。该研究还发现，在COVID-19的影响方面，存在性别和位置异质性，其中女性和农村居民处境最为不利。然而，同时的分位数回归结果显示，就家庭总消费而言，中产阶级和上层阶级的消费与最低层阶级相比受到了深远的影响。这项研究的关键政策含义是，加纳需要扩大其社会保护计划，以同时援助新的贫困人口和现有的贫困人口。该研究还发现，在COVID-19的影响方面，存在性别和位置异质性，其中女性和农村居民处境最不利。然而，同时的分位数回归结果显示，就家庭总消费而言，中产阶级和上层阶级的消费与最低层阶级相比受到了深远的影响。这项研究的关键政策含义是，加纳需要扩大其社会保护计划，以同时援助新的贫困人口和现有的贫困人口。该研究还发现，在COVID-19的影响方面，存在性别和位置异质性，其中女性和农村居民处境最不利。然而，同时的分位数回归结果显示，就家庭总消费而言，中产阶级和上层阶级的消费与最低层阶级相比受到了深远的影响。这项研究的关键政策含义是，加纳需要扩大其社会保护计划，以同时援助新的贫困人口和现有的贫困人口。