Posted on 22 February 2022
Covid has pushed an estimated 124 million people into extreme poverty globally, the first increase in extreme poverty in 20 years, but has also increased cash transfers, according to a new report from the Brookings Institute.
‘To meet the magnitude of this need, governments around the world have dramatically ramped up social protection measures, and in particular cash transfers, which comprised one-third of all COVID-related social protection programs. A staggering 17 percent of the world’s population, or 1.3 billion people, were covered by at least one COVID-related cash payment between 2020 and 2021.’