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This study examines the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sufficiency of government support. Based on an online survey with 920 respondents, the cross-tabulation and binary logistic regression results show: firstly, in terms of loss of income, male respondents are more likely to have a loss of income as compared to female counterparts, and secondly, among different categories of employment status, the self-employed respondents are the most vulnerable group, given that more than 20 percent of them experienced loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, respondents working in small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and the informal sector are more likely to face loss of income as compared to respondents working in other sectors of employment. Likewise, respondents without tertiary education level are more likely to have a loss of income as compared to respondents with university certification. The baseline results highlight the insufficiency of government financial support programs based on the perspective of Malaysians from different demographic backgrounds. As a policy implication, the findings could guide the State in formulating the right policies for target groups who need more assistance than others in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic put dents on every sector of the affected countries, and the informal sector was no exception. This study is based on the quantitative analyses of the primary data of 1,867 informal workers of Bangladesh to shed light on the impact of the pandemic-induced economic crisis on this working class. The survey was conducted between 8 July and 13 August 2020 across the eight administrative divisions of the country. Analysis points out that about ninety percent of these workers faced an income and food expenditure drop during the lockdown. The effect was higher in males, particularly among the urban-centric and educated males engaged in services and sales. The findings suggest that policy support is needed for the informal workers to face such a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]