Assessment of the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 in Rwanda : findings from a country-wide community survey, preliminary analysis to inform further global research

Rationale: The COVID-19 pandemic along with its devastating impact on human lives has disrupted the socioeconomic situation worldwide. Rwanda has adopted lockdowns and other measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent studies documented the macro-level socio-economic pandemic impact but the impact on a household’s daily life has been scarcely documented especially in low-and-middle-income countries. Objective: This work describes the interplay between multiple factors to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the Rwandan population at the micro-level (household). Methods: Data from a country-wide community survey conducted in Rwanda between December 2021 and March 2022 were used. A total of 26,412 response forms were received from around 4400 participants surveyed in 6 recurrent bi-weekly phases where participants were randomly selected. The Multivariable Logistic regression model was fitted to data with a backward stepwise elimination algorithm to assess the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 on households’ income. Factors considered in this study are gender, age group, residence, level of education, occupation, change in employment status, socioeconomic status, and marital status. Results: The multivariable logistic regression model provided the factors associated with the decline in income due to COVID-19. The results show that people living without a partner are more likely to experience income decline due to COVID-19 than people living with their partner. It is seen that the higher the number of children in a household, the higher the risk of experiencing a decrease in income. Taking into consideration the education level and comparing people with post-secondary and university level vis-a-vis people who did not attend school, the latter are 27 times more likely to experience a decrease in their income, those who attended primary school are 5 times more likely to experience a decrease in income, and those who attended secondary school are almost 2 times more likely to experience a decrease in income.