The Covid-19 pandemic has led to social advances in many Member States and non-Member States, but these are not without gaps and are often fragile, as they are limited to pandemic-related situations and, in most cases, temporary in nature, according to a report published, on Tuesday 7 September, by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN).
For example, short-time working schemes and wage subsidies were the mainstay during the pandemic. Fifteen Member States have introduced such short-time working schemes, six Member States have relied on wage subsidies and six others have introduced a hybrid system including both schemes.
Most states have relaxed eligibility, duration and payment conditions and some have introduced these schemes to cover specific sectors. The majority of national schemes provide for an allowance of 60-80% of gross salary.
The same applies to sick leave. The pandemic has often led to improvements in benefits, the scope of eligible situations and reduced delays. The coverage of health systems has also been extended in all the States analysed (35 in total), in some cases also to migrants and refugees.
However, there are still some gaps. Often, the schemes provided continue to exclude atypical employees and the self-employed, or only target specific economic segments. Most of the measures taken relate only to the coronavirus and are temporary. The same applies to measures related to health coverage: they are often limited to the duration of the pandemic.
These are just a few examples. The authors make numerous recommendations to Member States and the EU, including to better cover the self-employed and atypical workers and to maintain some recently introduced measures beyond the pandemic. In addition, the study presents country-by-country analyses.
To consult the study: https://bit.ly/3jS3pRu
To read the country reports: https://bit.ly/3nerNPt (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)