Middle class during the pandemic: Indebtedness and perception of government performance

Abstract

The pandemic contracted the growth of the middle class in Latin America. This analysis addresses the consequences of the pandemic on the middle class during the COVID-19 crisis in the four largest cities in Colombia. Two consequences of the pandemic were studied: access to financial services and indebtedness, and perception of government performance. A descriptive analysis was made based on data from an online survey with more than 1600 responses collected during the pandemic between November 2020 and January 2021. The survey was conducted among adult residents of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla, inquiring about economic and social variables. The middle class was severely affected in economic terms: 46% of respondents reported a reduction in their income, and in 33.1% of the cases, a family member lost their jobs. More than half of those surveyed had difficulty paying their debts. Low confidence in the government and low satisfaction with government performance are reported.