coronavirus and welfare state Archives – Social Europe

Neglected, sacrificed: older persons during the Covid-19 pandemic

by Isabel Ortiz on 5th October 2020

Older persons have suffered a terrible toll from the coronavirus—now countries must invest in long-term care.

The Covid-19 wake-up call to buttress social investment

by Anton Hemerijck and Robin Huguenot-Noël on 28th September 2020

The temptation to cut welfare expenditures to reduce deficits inflated by the pandemic must be resisted.

Making work fit for workers after Covid-19

by Esther Lynch on 24th September 2020

The welfare state sought to protect workers from labour-market risks. After Covid-19, reduced working time and greater autonomy must be on the agenda.

Renewing welfare through universal entitlement: lessons from Covid-19

by Mary Murphy and Michael McGann on 24th September 2020

The pandemic has brought into focus the social contract between income and contribution which can underpin a solidaristic welfare state.

Including the precariat

by Valeria Pulignano on 9th September 2020

The coronavirus crisis has highlighted how the welfare state of the future must include the growing mass of precarious labour, especially among youth.

Shifting the burden: can Covid-19 do it for women’s unpaid work?

by Bharati Sadasivam on 8th September 2020

Lockdown conditions have put in question the disproportionate burden of unpaid work placed on women, evidence from Turkey shows.

Proposals for a reform of the EU's fiscal rules and economic governance

Debt-to-GDP ratios are set to rise significantly all over the world as a result of the coronavirus crisis. This will pose a huge challenge for the EU's member states and in particular the euro area countries, because of the strict fiscal rules. The IMK advocates a reform focused on appropriate fiscal rules that promote short-term macroeconomic stabilisation and long-term modernisation of the public capital stock, while still keeping the sustainability of public debt in mind. We propose an expenditure rule for non-cyclical, non-investment expenditure coupled with a Golden Rule for public investment. As a pragmatic solution, the permissible debt-to-GDP ratio should be increased to 90%, while escape clauses should apply during times of crisis. The Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure should also be reformed. We advocate a Macroeconomic Dialogue to ensure compliance with the reformed rules and consistency of national strategies.

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A socially just transition through the European Green Deal?

The aim of this working paper is to provide a preliminary assessment of whether the European Green Deal constitutes a suitable policy framework to combine environmental and economic objectives with the pursuit of social fairness, thus ensuring a just transition towards more sustainable economies and societies. Such an assessment appears particularly relevant in a period in which the EU and its Member States are figuring out how to redesign their economies and societies in order to cope with the unprecedented social and economic crisis triggered by the Covid–19 pandemic.

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Living, working and COVID-19

This report presents the findings of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, carried out by Eurofound to capture the far-reaching implications of the pandemic for the way people live and work across Europe. The survey was fielded online, among respondents who were reached via Eurofound’s stakeholders and social media advertising. Two rounds have been carried out: one in April, when most member states were in lockdown, and one in July, when society and economies were slowly re-opening. The findings from the first round reflected widespread emotional distress, financial concern and low trust in institutions. Levels of concern abated somewhat in the second round, particularly among groups of respondents benefiting from support measures implemented during the pandemic. The results underline stark differences between countries and between socioeconomic groups that point to growing inequalities. They confirm the upsurge in teleworking across all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the report explores what this means for work–life balance and job quality.

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Reconnecting in a post pandemic world: citizenship education for democracy and sustainability
5-7 November 2020, Berlin, Germany (online)

NECE (Networking European Citizenship Education) is the European platform for citizenship education, coordinated by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education. The NECE Conference 2020 will take place as an online event from November 5 to November 7, 2020. It will highlight the necessity of citizenship education in a world of pandemic and ecological risk.

Speakers from all over Europe, the MENA region and Africa will discuss how to increase our democratic commitment and civic competences. Maja Göpel, scientific director of The New Institute, will open the conference with a keynote on ‘Rethinking our World: Reconciling Climate Change and Democracy’, discussed by Grace Maingi, Uraia Trust, Kenya.

Tune in to a rich variety of panels, workshops, online networking and interactive platforms. More from [email protected]

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Germany’s leading postwar philosopher offers a magisterial survey of the shadows cast by its history, sensitively distinguishing experiences east and west. He analyses its contemporary challenges, thus illuminated, especially the resurgence of far-right populism, in the evolving context of the Europe of today.

'Thirty years after the seismic shift in world history of 1989-90 with the collapse of communism, the sudden eruption of life-changing events could be another watershed. This will be decided in the next few months—in Brussels and in Berlin too.'

Co-edited by Social Europe Publishing and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) with the financial support of the European Parliament.

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