Addressing the Needs of Highly Vulnerable Households in Luzon during the Covid-19 Lockdown

In this brief article, we attempt to quantify the number of highly vulnerable (to hunger and poverty) households in Luzon, resulting from the Covid-19 lockdown, and to estimate the amount of money that will be needed to address their vulnerability. Highly vulnerable households are defined as those unlikely to receive income during the lockdown period and which likely have little or no savings to tide them over. Using nationally-representative household data, we estimate the number of highly vulnerable households in Luzon at 2.4 million and the amount needed to support their food and non-food needs at Php17.7 billion per month, with the amount per month likely to rise if the lockdown is extended. We also propose a way for the government to operationalize the process of identifying and helping highly vulnerable households.