Assessing equity and the determinants of socio-economic impacts of COVID-19: results from a cross-sectional survey in three counties in Kenya
Abstract Background: COVID-19 mitigation measures have major ramifications on all aspects of people’s livelihoods. Based on data collected in February 2021, we present an analysis of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mitigation measures in three counties in Kenya.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional phone-based survey in three counties in Kenya to assess the level of disruption across seven domains: income, food insecurity, schooling, domestic tension/violence, communal violence, mental health, and decision-making. An overall disruption index was computed from the seven domains using principal component analysis. We used a linear regression model to examine the determinants of vulnerability to disruptions as measured by the index. We used concentration curves and indices to assess inequality in the disruption domains and the overall disruption index.Results: The level of disruption in income was the highest (74%), while the level of disruption for domestic tension/violence was the lowest (30%). Factors associated with increased vulnerability to the overall disruption index included: older age, being married, belonging in the lowest socio-economic tertile and receiving COVID-19 related assistance. The concentration curves showed that all the seven domains of disruption were disproportionately concentrated among households in the lowest socio-economic tertile, a finding that was supported by the concentration index of the overall disruption index (CI = - 0.022; p = 0.074).Conclusion: The COVID-19 mitigation measures resulted in unintended socio-economic effects that unfairly affected certain vulnerable groups, including those in the lowest socio-economic group and the elderly. Measures to protect households against the adverse socio-economic effects of the pandemic should be scaled up and targeted to the most vulnerable, with attention to the constantly evolving nature of the pandemic.