ABSTRACT
The range and depth of COVID-19's impact vary largely across sectors and communities in Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, the chapter hypothesizes that the pandemic has disproportionately aggravated the vulnerability of Bangladesh's marginalized communities. As such, the impact assessment of the first wave on marginalized communities in Bangladesh has been conducted along three dimensions. These comprise the impact on the household's income and employment as well as the health and education of the marginalized. A survey was conducted considering division-wise stratification, geo-locations, diversity, and susceptibility to experiencing a natural disaster. Results show that these vulnerable households faced more medium-term and intense impacts on employment, income, savings, and debt, while considerable challenges remain in the areas of health, education, and social fallouts. Based on the ground-level evidence, the study emphasizes policies to address the prevalent underemployment, reduction in monthly household income and expenses, and rising household debt.
