COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Lasting Impacts and an Agenda for Recovery

By WIEGO, CHODAWU on March 02, 2022

Domestic workers’ limited legal and social protection in Tanzania has compounded the impact of the pandemic on workers’ socio-economic circumstances. This report presents Dar es Salaam findings from Round 2 of the WIEGO-led COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy study that was conducted in mid-2021 to assess how specific groups of informal workers and their households were experiencing COVID-19 resurgences and ongoing economic strains, and to what extent (if any) they had recovered.

Key Findings

• Almost half of respondents (47%) reported hunger among adults in their household, and almost a third (30%) of respondents who have children under 16 in their households reported hunger among children. This is a significant increase from a year ago during Round 1 when 12% of respondents reported hunger among adults and children.
• In May 2021, almost all domestic workers (94%) interviewed reported working at least one day, compared to 87% in June 2020 and 84% in April 2020.
• Live-in domestic workers were now earning on average 77% of the amount live-out domestic workers were earning, compared to 96% of live-out earnings prior to the pandemic.
• One in five respondents (19%) reported increase in harassment/threats from employer, 17% reported increased isolation. More than a quarter of respondents (27%) reported that their mental and psychological stress had increased compared to pre-COVID-19.
• Of those respondents who drew down their savings since the start of COVID-19, more than half (55%) reported that they have not replaced these savings.