Book Description

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and social effects on households have created an urgent need for timely data to help monitor and relieve the impacts and protect the welfare of the least-well-off Ethiopians. To monitor how the pandemic is affecting Ethiopia's economy and people and to inform interventions and policy responses, the World Bank is conducting a tailored High-Frequency Phone Survey of Households (HFPS-HH). The HFPS-HH builds on the national longitudinal Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey (ESS) that the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) and the World Bank carried out in 2019. The HFPS-HH drew a subsample of the ESS sample that was representative of households with access to a working phone. The same households are being tracked over 12 months, with selected respondents, typically the household head, completing phone-based interviews every three to four weeks. Such prompt follow-up allows for better understanding of the household effects of and responses to the pandemic in near real time to support immediate evidence-based responses. This survey brief summarizes the results of the first six rounds of the HFPS-HH, covering the period from April to September 2020. The brief is based on a sample of both urban and rural households in all regions of Ethiopia. The 15-20-minute questionnaire covers such topics as knowledge of COVID mitigation measures and behavior changes, access to basic staple food items and medicines, educational activities during school closures, access to health care services, employment dynamics, household income and livelihoods, income loss and coping strategies, food security, and assistance received.