Aside from its lending activities in these five countries, the World Bank and its partners are actively monitoring developments in social indicators throughout the region as the crisis unfolds and affects other countries. Within each country, the poor and the nearly-poor are suffering the brunt of the impact. Unskilled workers in urban areas are among the first to be laid off and droughts have cut into the income of subsistence farmers in rural areas. Rising unemployment or movement into low-paid informal work, accompanied by price increases on basic commodities such as food and fuel, are cutting into families' purchasing power. All households are affected by the price increases, but the poor spend the greatest proportion of their income on such basic commodities.
Different households follow different strategies for coping with falling family incomes.
Some households are cutting back on food spending, which reduces their productivity and increases their vulnerability to illness. Other families try to reduce education expenditures by not sending their children to school. Children who drop out of school are often sent to work to supplement household income, or they do household chores, freeing up the adults to work. Still others cut back on health expenditures by delaying visits to clinics until it is too late. Women tend to suffer the worst effects as they lose their jobs first, and often provide for their families before themselves.