One in two people worldwide saw their earnings drop due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with people in low-income countries particularly hard hit by job losses or cuts to their working hours, research showed yesterday.
US-based polling company Gallup, which surveyed 300 000 people across 117 countries, found that half of those with jobs earned less because of Covid-19 pandemic disruptions. This translated to 1.6 billion adults globally.
“Worldwide, these percentages ranged from a high of 76% in Thailand to a low of 10% in Switzerland,” it said.
In Bolivia, Myanmar, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, Honduras and Ecuador, more than 70% people polled said they took home less than before the crisis. In the US, this figure dropped to 34%.
The Covid-19 crisis has hit workers hard, particularly women in low-paid precarious…