Covid-19: 34% of Households Lost Their Income, HCP

A survey carried out by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) to identify the impact of the coronavirus on the economic, social and psychological situation of households revealed that 34% of households found themselves with no income due to the pandemic.

“34% of households affirm to have no source of income due to the stopping of their activities during the lockdown”, according to the results of this study conducted on April 14 to 23 for a sample of 2,350 households representing the different socio-economic segments of the Moroccan population according to the place of residence, urban and rural.

This proportion is slightly higher among rural inhabitants (35%) than among city dwellers (33%), said the HCP, noting that it rises to 44% among poor households, to 42% among households in precarious housing, 54% among skilled craftsmen and workers, 47% among traders, and 46% among agricultural workers.

Compared to their current financial situation, for 38% of households, the income just covers expenses, 39% in urban areas and 35% in rural areas, 22% draw from their savings (20% in urban areas and 26% in rural areas rural), 14% resort to debt (12% in urban areas and 17% in rural areas) and 8% rely on State aid to cover their daily expenses, 9% in urban areas and 5% in rural areas rural.

For public assistance to households for job loss, the HCP pointed out that one in five households (19%) received state aid to compensate for the job loss: 13% under the RAMED program and 6% within the framework of the CNSS.

“49% of households say that at least one of their active working members has been forced to stop their activity, 40% of them have received assistance from the State or from the employer,” according to the results of the survey.

According to the aid source, 31% of the transfers come from the State through the CNSS, 34% in urban areas and 16% in rural areas. 

As for state aid through the RAMED program, it was mentioned by 67% of beneficiary households, 63% in urban areas and 81% in rural areas.

Almost three out of four households (72%) receiving state aid believe that this aid is not enough to compensate for the loss of income, 75.9% in urban areas and 55.7% in rural zones, according to the same source.