Loading

Helping communities weather the socio-economic downturn: building urban resilience Baseline Survey: 2022

Survey main findings

  • The survey shows the socio-economic and security situation is worse now than in 2017.
  • Compared to 2020, respondents are twice as likely to report they have often gone without safe shelter, a cash income or needed medicine or treatment.
  • The survey found that eight townships are doing worse on every indicator than the rest of Yangon (referred to onwards as Urban Resilience Project townships: Thanlyin, Dala, Hlaingthaya, Dagon Myothit (Seikkan), Dagon Myothit (South), Shwepyithar, Insein, North Okkalapa)

Introduction

Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city and home to approximately seven million people, is the country’s commercial capital. It was a city with a vibrant social fabric — characterized by many permanent migrants who found gainful employment, educational opportunities, business prosperity, an educated populace, and a will to implement institutional change by municipal governments.

In 2017, the Myanmar Living Conditions Survey (MLCS) ranked state/ region level estimates for many indictors. Yangon was at the top of the rankings – especially among economic indicators — and had the third lowest poverty rate in the country.
Respondents in the survey were asked about the main problems currently in the township where they live. The lack of work opportunities and rising prices were raised most frequently, with the former mentioned by nearly half of the households in the eight URP townships.

Most people rated their lives as fair. However, one in three people living in lower income households (33.4 percent) said their current life was bad or very bad.

URP will meet urgent needs and provide opportunities, scaling up to half a million vulnerable people in eight townships in Yangon
The intended beneficiaries of the URP will include many of those living in Yangon’s slums or informal settlements. 14.2 percent of the households from the eight URP townships live in slum conditions, compared to 1.2 percent in the rest of Yangon.
The baseline survey captures the significant sense of insecurity with four out of ten men and women stating they do not feel safe in their own neighborhood during the day.
Gender differences are most noticeable when looking at feelings of safety in their own ward

Poverty and Vulnerability

In the baseline survey more than a fifth (21.7 percent) of the full sample of households had often gone without a cash income in the last 12 months. World Values Survey from March 2020 for the whole of Myanmar had a much lower percentage (11.7 percent).

Falling incomes: The situation is noticeably worse in the eight URP townships than in other parts of Yangon, with close to a quarter having often gone without a cash income (24.1 percent compared to 16.8 percent). Lower income households, households living in slums and households with children were more likely to have often gone without cash income.

A recent survey of garment workers in two of the eight URP townships (Hlaingtharya and Shwepyitha) showed that garment workers who lost their jobs are worse off on nearly all indicators. The loss of a job, especially in households with no other income sources can be painful, with a tremendous impact on the well-being of their families and, in some cases, increase the need for humanitarian assistance.

Coping with falling incomes-struggling for adequate and nutritious food: Data from the survey confirms this concern: over 1 in 4 households (26.0 percent) of the full sample of households reported that, during the last 12 months, there was a time when people in their household were unable to eat healthy and nutritious food because of lack of money.

Worryingly, more than a third (35.7 percent) of households in the eight URP townships report eating less in the last 12 months — amounting to roughly 215,000 households. Almost a third (30.1 percent) of full sample households with children are unable to eat healthy and nutritious food due to a lack of money and over two-fifths of households with children ate less due to a lack of resources. The situation in the eight URP townships is worse than in other parts of Yangon.

Coping with falling incomes-more debt and selling assets: Rising prices for rice and other daily necessities are having a profound effect on households in the survey: nearly a fifth (19.9 percent) are currently in debt with grocers or other vendors in their community, rising to almost two-fifths of households living in slums (full sample). This is unsustainable for thehouseholds and for the businesses in these areas.

More than half (51.9 percent) of the full sample households living in slums sold assets in the last year. This can make recovery challenging if these assets are linked to making a living, for example a motorbike.

Making up the shortfall with informal loans risk exploitation: 40.7 percent of households living in slums (full sample) had taken an informal loan, placing them at greater risk of being in long term debt and having to pay extortionate interest payments.

Data from previous surveys suggest that borrowing money to make up for the financial shortfall faced by many households rose during the COVID-19 pandemic but then dropped off slightly following the political unrest.
In the last 12 months, 31.7 percent of households in the full sample had borrowed money from an informal source, such as pawn brokers. Virtually no households (2.5 percent) had taken a loan from a government or private bank. People living in the URP townships were the most likely to have taken an informal loan (33.5 percent).

Currently 16.0 percent of households in the eight URP townships are saving some money - on average, a fifth of their household income. However, only 7.5 percent of full sample households living in slums managed to save any money in the last 12 months. Households in the eight URP townships were less likely to save than people living outside those areas.

Employment and Livelihoods

Jobs-a critical need: When asked about the biggest problems in their townships, nearly half of the respondents in the eight URP townships (45.2 percent) mentioned the lack of jobs, rising to more than half (51.8 percent) among households with low incomes. Those not working but would like to work (if they can find one) were asked what would help them get a job. The three main responses were having the appropriate level of education, money to help find a job and Identification Documents.

A way out of poverty-businesses owned by households: Businesses owned by households: non-poor households are 68.8 percent more likely than poor households to operate a non-farm business. Nearly half (46.0 percent) of households in the full sample owned a business, with households living in slums being least likely to be running a business (39.0 percent)

Women are the sole owners of 45.0 percent of household businesses.

93.4 percent of households in the 8 URP townships mentioned money is the main need.

Caring responsibilities-a barrier to work: Almost two fifths (38.0 percent) of respondents reported that, during the last 12 months, there has been a significant increase in their caring responsibilities. Women in lower income households, those living in slums and households with children were the most likely to report an increased need.

When asked who had taken on most of this extra care, there is a large divergence of views between men and women. Women almost unanimously state that a woman in the household has taken on the extra care responsibilities. Men’s views differ quite widely.

Almost a third (31.0 percent) of women in the full sample reported that they are no longer able to do paid work due to the increased caring responsibilities.

Gender Based Violence in the townships

Gende based violence: Since COVID-19 began, the number of domestic violence complaints has risen. In the eight URP townships, during the last 12 months, 14.7 percent of respondents noticed violence against women by family members in their neighborhood and 5.0 percent knew a girl or woman who has sought support against domestic violence.

In the eight URP townships, during the last 12 months, 14.7 percent of respondents noticed violence against women by family members in their neighbourhood and 5.0 percent knew a girl or woman who had sought support against domestic violence.

Access to Services

Health-Strengthening basic services: Results from the survey show that residents in the URP townships are more prone to illness now than they were five years ago when the Myanmar Living Conditions Survey 2017 took place. Currently almost half of respondents (48.1 percent) in the eight townships said a household member had suffered from a complaint in the last 30 days.

In those households where someone had suffered from an injury or health complaint in the last 30 days, about three-fifths of households (59.9 percent) had people who went to a doctor or hospital for the most serious complaint in the last 30 days, with poorer households less likely to have visited a medical practitioner.

Surveys undertaken since the takeover reveal women’s perceptions of difficulties in accessing health services.

Lower income households, people living in slums and households with children are more likely to borrow money to cover health expenses than others. The survey also found same patterns in relation to households selling assets to cover health expenses.

Over one quarter (26.6 percent) of respondents stated that they or their family had often or sometimes gone without needed medicine or treatment compared to 10.6 percent in March 2020 in the World Values Survey for Myanmar.

Almost a quarter (22.8 percent) of households reported having a person with a chronic health condition, increasing slightly to 24.0 percent in the URP townships.

Education- Strengthening basic services: Respondents to the survey from the eight URP townships were less likely to have been educated to high school level and above compared to those from the rest of Yangon (36.3 percent and 48.3percent respectively). A slightly higher proportion of women have a higher level of education. Less than a quarter (23.4 percent) of the respondents living in slum conditions had finished high school.

Since COVID-19 began in March 2020, 22.2 percent of the full sample households containing 5- to 17-year-olds have taken children out of school. In those households where children had been taken out of school, the main reason was that the security situation was considered too dangerous (35.8 percent). A quarter of households in the eight URP townships (25.1 percent) who kept their children out of school reported that this was because they needed the children to earn money for the household. This is a sad legacy of childhoods lost to poverty and hard work. This extreme coping mechanism was less likely to be mentioned among households in the rest of Yangon (14.1 percent).

Drinkable water: While most households in Yangon had access to potable water in the dry season, there is a disparity between the eight URP townships and the rest of Yangon (88.9 percent compared to 97.3). One in ten households (11.1 percent) living in slums in the eight URP townships did not have access to potable water.

Only 5.8 percent of respondents in the eight URP townships reported two days of discontinuity of drinking water services in the last two weeks, but this is twice the percentage noted in MLCS 2017 in the same townships (2.9 percent).

Energy for lighting and cooking:Residents in the full sample are largely using electricity for lighting (89.9 percent), one percentage point higher than in MLCS 2017 (88.8 percent). In the URP townships, the proportion is lower at 85.5 percent. Households in the eight URP townships were more likely to be cooking with dirty fuels. A majority (50.8 percent) of households living in Yangon’s slums use charcoal for cooking. This potentially has health consequences for the families and a harmful impact on the natural environment.

Among the dirty fuels (charcoal and firewood) which have a destructive environmental impact,12 charcoal is a popular choice in the eight URP townships, with one in five households (21.6 percent) using it for cooking.

Internet Access: Survey results show that internet usage is quite common in Yangon. Internet usage is marginally lower in the 8 URP townships, with the lowest levels of usage among lower income households and those living in slums.

The fall-out will be most severe for the most vulnerable people, including those living in slums, migrant workers, refugees and some ethnic groups. The environment is difficult and volatile. Rapid localized shifts in power alter the on-the-ground conditions for development workers and it is difficult to plan strategically. However, through close collaboration with communities, the Urban Resilience Project will enhance “the ability of people, households, communities, townships to mitigate, adapt to and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive urban growth.”