The effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on household welfare: a case study of Naluvule Parish
Abstract
This study was carried out in Naluvule parish to investigate the effect of the COVID-19
lockdown on household welfare. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine the
effect of the lockdown on household income, to establish the effect of the lockdown on
household expenditure, to investigate the effect of the lockdown on education, to determine
the effect of the lockdown on food security of households and to establish the effect of the
lockdown on household health.
The study applied a stratified sampling design which involves dividing the target population
into non overlapping and internally homogeneous sub populations with respect to the variable
being studied. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data from 94 respondents.
The bivariate relationships indicate that the lockdown did have an effect on; the income of
household heads (p-value=0.000), the household expenditure (p-value =0.000), the food
security of households (p-value=0.000) and on access to the main health centre (pvalue=
0.000). In conclusion, study findings indicated that in general the lockdown did have
an effect on the income, expenditure, food security and health of households in Naluvule
parish. The government and other development agencies can support households through
providing cash support for food and other basic needs especially households that have been
severely affected by the lockdown, by constructing health facilities in places with
concentrated households for easy access, by enhancing school feeding programs to encourage
children to attend school and through provision of free health facilities in order to help them
to recover from the effect of the lockdown.