Inequality under COVID-19 : Taking Stock of High-Frequency Data for East Asia and the Pacific

While the distributional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been well-documented inhigh-income countries, studies in low- and middle-income countries have been relatively rare due to data limitations.This paper uses pre-pandemic household welfare data and high-frequency household phone survey data from sevenmiddle-income countries in East Asia and the Pacific, spanning May 2020 to May 2021, to analyze the distributionalimpacts of the pandemic and their implications for equitable recovery. The results indicate that employment impacts atthe extensive margin have been large and widespread across the welfare distribution during times of stringent mobilityrestrictions (low mobility). When mobility restrictions have been relaxed, however, employment impacts have been largeramong poorer workers who have found it more difficult to return to employment. Data on the loss of labor income alsosuggests that the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities. In addition to being more susceptible toemployment and income shocks, poorer households in East Asia and the Pacific are at higher risk of experiencing long-termscarring from the pandemic – due to rising food insecurity, increased debt, distress sale of assets, and fewerdistance/interactive learning opportunities for their children. Taken together, the findings indicate thatinequality has worsened during the pandemic, raising concerns about the prospects for an inclusive recovery inthe absence of appropriate policy measures.