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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This paper aims to describe and discuss the significance of
the social policy measures implemented in Southern
European countries—Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain—in
response to the first wave of COVID-19. Our analysis
covers interventions from 1 March to June 30, 2020.
Despite significant differences in how the COVID-19 pandemic
spread—with Italy and Spain experiencing much
higher rates of infection and lethality—Southern European
economies are among the most hard-hit—and are likely to
find themselves in the eye of the storm, once more. The
paper shows that despite differences in how countries have
countered the spread of COVID-19, there are important
commonalities in the actions governments took to counteract
the economic impact of the pandemic. Foremost efforts
were directed at wage subsidy schemes to contain mass job
destruction, additional temporary benefits to compensate
self-employed and other non-standard workers for the loss
of earnings; the expansion of unemployment insurance; and
finally, the introduction and/or strengthening of schemes to
provide support to families with care responsibilities. The
scale of the social policy and employment protection
response has nevertheless been constrained by the fiscal
position of each individual country in the post-Euro crisis context. We argue that, in the long run, the response capacity
of these governments and the social and economic consequences
of this crisis will need to be contextualised
against the backdrop of the deep and prolonged impact of
austerity-driven measures on public budgets, production
and welfare regimes over the last decade.
Description
Keywords
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Moreira, A., Léon, M., Coda Moscarola, F., Roumpakis, A. (2021). In the eye of the storm…again! Social policy responses to COVID19 in Southern Europe. Social Policy and Administration, 55(2) (First published: 29 December 2020), 339-357