IFPRI Blog: Lockdowns are Protecting China's Rural Families from COVID-19, but the Economic Burden is Heavy

reap 2013 woman in rural home

BY SCOTT ROZELLE, HEATHER RAHIMI, HUAN WANG AND EVE DILL

COVID-19 lockdowns have major impacts on migrant workers and supply chains that depend on them. Scott Rozelle and his team find that the lockdowns in China were successful in protecting rural areas from COVID infections, but that the cost was severe: Poor rural households cut down on education, nutrition, and health expenditures and lost around $100 billion in migrant worker wages.—Johan Swinnen, series co-editor and IFPRI Director General.

Read the full blog post here to learn about REAP's village-level survey of the impact of COVID-19 control measures on rural China.