- Save the Children’s Rapid Needs Assessment sheds light on the challenges faced by over 2,000 households
On 28 July, Save the Children launched its Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) for June, and the report took a close look at how the changing situation in Sri Lanka is impacting its people, especially children.
According to Save the Children, the Rapid Needs Assessment was carried out to understand the impact of the economic crisis on families, and their children’s ability to survive, learn, and be protected in Sri Lanka. For the Rapid Need Assessment, Save the Children interviewed 2,309 adults from 2,309 households across nine districts.
Photo © Save the Children
Of the sample, 49.8% were women, 49.6% were men, and the remaining 0.6% preferred not to disclose their gender. Seven out of 10 (68.8%) interviewees were the household head and/or the primary income earner. Save the Children adds that 66.6% respondents were the household head and 29.4% were the spouse of the household head.
Loss of income
One of the key issues the RNA highlighted was the income loss since the economic crisis. According to Save the Children, 85.1% of households reported a loss of income since the economic crisis, with 58.1% households having lost more than half their income and 10.9% having lost all their income.
Compared to the same month last year, more than one out of three households indicated that they no longer have an income, the RNA stated, adding that more than two in five households said this was due to retrenchment or a job change.
“Significantly more poor households (65.7%) than non-poor households (52.1%) have lost more than half of their income since the crisis,” the RNA found. Save the Children added that twice as many poor households than non-poor households lost all of their income.
Overall, similar proportions of female-headed (57%) and male-headed households (59%) lost more than half of their income, the RNA stated. However, it added that significantly more female-headed households (14%) lost all of their income than male-headed households (10%).
In terms of families’ ability to meet basic needs, Save the Children found that 49% of households interviewed were able to meet all or most of their basic needs, like food, non-food, water, shelter, and health.
However, the other half were only able to meet some or none for at least one of the basic needs. The RNA stated that the top two priority needs highlighted by 80% of the households included education for children and food.
Looking at monthly expenditure, households reported spending an average of 71% of their average monthly income on food. According to Save the Children, the average monthly expenditure on food was Rs. 20,286, loan or credit and interest payment was Rs. 6,324, and education and learning material was Rs. 5,129. A household was found to spend Rs. 3,373 on transport, Rs. 3,098 on fuel and gas, and Rs. 1,971 on clothes.
“The average of total household expenditure is Rs. 50,000, which is 75% more than the current average monthly income (Rs. 29,000),” the report stated.
Children’s education
The RNA by Save the Children covers several components and areas that are impacted by the economic crisis, including child and adult wellbeing. One other area is children’s education, with more than half of the households reporting some impact to their children’s education due to the current economic crisis.
Two in five households reported they do not have internet access at home – either via computer or mobile – and thus these children are unable to take part in online learning. This number was as high as 49% in Kilinochchi.
“One-third (33.9%) of the households have not been able to spend money on children’s education needs (i.e., books, learning materials, uniform, school bag, shoes),” the report stated, adding: “One in three (29.8%) households reported that one or more children are unable to go to extra classes/tuition.”
The overall average spending on education and learning material per household in a month was Rs. 5,218.93. In Anuradhapura, the monthly average was Rs. 7,212.22, while in Trincomalee it was Rs. 3,840.23. In Colombo, households spent an average of Rs. 5,202.04 per month on education and learning material.
While the RNA provides a closer look at the situation in the country, Save the Children stated that the RNA aims to help the organisation and the wider humanitarian actors in the country to be informed on any programme to scale the prioritised needs across the sectors, and ensure best practices in emergency humanitarian responses to help the targeted populations in Sri Lanka.
It added: “Most importantly, it will also be used to inform the donors/development partners and encourage them to strategically channel funding to key priority areas to build the household’s capacity to overcome the economic shocks.”
