Social protection policy responses to COVID-19
Article published in Voice of the Workers Weekly
During the pandemic, the social protection and inclusion
systems in place in EU Member States, have succeeded in limiting the employment
and social consequences of the pandemic.
The recent Synthesis
Report of the European Social Policy Network analyses the measures put in
place by 35 countries in Europe between the beginning of February 2020 and
mid-April 2021 to help address the social and financial distress created by the
COVID-19 pandemic and by lockdown policies, and to assess the adequacy of the national
responses.
In addition to measures taken by individual countries, extraordinary
EU-level stimulus measures and coordination efforts have provided support for
Member States. The EU had adopted a package of financial and coordination
measures to minimise the impact of the pandemic, including heavy investment for
the development of vaccines.
The report says that the Maltese government took steps early
to ensure that the economy would not stop functioning, especially to safeguard
businesses and protect jobs. Negative aspects have also surfaced, particularly for
workers being engaged on a self-employed basis at very low rates which verge on
precarious work.
More Information:
Social
protection and inclusion policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis
Country
reports including Malta