El Peruano (03.12.2020) Law N ° 31068 approved on November 18 authorizes that people who have not worked on the payroll in the last 12 months will be able to withdraw up to four tax units (UIT), that is, 17,200 soles. The first deposits would be made before January 9, 2021.

ProVida (10.12.2020) All members of an AFP (contributors, non-contributors and pensioners) can request their Second Retirement withdrawal up to 10% of the total saving in their Mandatory Account, with a maximum amount of 150UF (around $ 4,300,000). Survival Pension beneficiaries can also make a Retirement request for those balances. Members can apply from December 10, 2020, until December 2021. 

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has revealed full details for the i-Sinar program which will allow eligible members to make withdrawals from Account 1. The i-Sinar program was introduced to assist members who are affected by the current pandemic situation. Affected members who wish to take out funds are able to apply online starting from 21st December 2020.

CNNPolitics (21.12.2020) Congress is on the verge of passing a far-reaching $900 billion Covid relief package that promises to accelerate vaccine distribution and deliver much-needed aid to small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, Americans who have lost their jobs during the economic upheaval and health care workers on the front lines of the crisis. According to a summary from House and Senate Democratic leaders, the legislation will include direct payments of up to $600 per adult, enhanced jobless benefits of $300 per week, roughly $284 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans, $25 billion in rental assistance, an extension of the eviction moratorium and $82 billion for schools and colleges.

ltccovid.org - 2020 "If you're doing research on COVID-19 & Long-Term Care it may be useful to see what others are doing! Here's a searchable international database of projects (a bit UK biased, but hopefully we'll get information from more projects in other countries soon!) "

Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance (09.12.2020) The Ministry announces that the Special Plans implemented in November 2020 continues for December 2020. Support for Independent Employees was also decided to continue supporting certain categories of self-employed persons who are significantly affected by the pandemic, such as photographers, taxi drivers, hotel workers and other categories, provided that their turnover is reduced compared to the same period last year exceeding 40%. The support provided corresponds to 60% of their income declared to the Social Insurance Services, with a minimum amount of € 300 and a maximum of € 900 for a period of four weeks.

Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance (09.12.2020) The Ministry announces that the Special Plans implemented in November 2020 continues for December 2020. Very Small Business Support subsidizes 100% of the employees for enterprises that employ up to three (3 ) employees, especially for Business Plans in Full Suspension or related companies, 100% of the staff is subsidized for companies that employ up to nine (9) employees.

Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance (09.12.2020) Businesses and workers in certain economic activities, such as workers in photographers, day care centers, banquet halls and other affected economic activities, the Special Plan for Businesses for Certain Economic Activities can be provided to 50% of employees provided that turnover has been reduced by more than 40%.

Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance (09.12.2020) The Support of Businesses / Employees that are under mandatory full suspension based on the Decrees issued by the Minister of Health are implemented additional Special Plans for the period from 1 November 2020 to 31 December 2020 or depending on the period of validity of the Decrees of the Minister of Health. The Special Plans in question will be open to companies affected by the Full Suspension Decrees and will provide support to 97% to 100% of employees, depending on the size of the company.

Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance (09.12.2020) The Ministry announces that the implementation of the Special Plans implemented in November 2020 continues for December 2020. The Special Plan of Hotel Units and Tourist Accommodations and the Special Plan of Economic Activities Related to the Tourism Industry are valid for the period from 1 November 2020 until 31 March 2021 and can provide support to up to 97% of the total staff of companies that will suspend their activities completely.

Government of the Republic of Croatia (19.11.2020) Cross-border data exchange between the Croatian Stop COVID-19 application and official applications of other EU member states has been established. This makes Croatia the seventh EU country in a row, along with Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Spain, which exchanges "infected keys" through the federation gateway (European Federation Gateway Service) and thus enables anonymous notification of foreign contacts about the risk of infection. 

Oxfam (15.12.2020) As 2020 draws to a close, the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of abating. Without urgent action, global poverty and inequality will deepen dramatically. Hundreds of millions of people have already lost their jobs, gone further into debt or skipped meals for months. Research by Oxfam and Development Pathways shows that over 2 billion people have had no support from their governments in their time of need. Our analysis shows that none of the social protection support to those who are unemployed, elderly people, children and families provided in low- and middle-income countries has been adequate to meet basic needs. 41% of that government support was only a one-off payment and almost all government support has now stopped.

europa.eu (15.11.2020) The German presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the EU4Health programme for 2021-2027. With a budget of EUR 5.1 billion, the new reinforced programme provides a strong basis for Union action in the health field based on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes at a time when EU citizens still experience the impact of a major health threat and the resulting human suffering and severe socio-economic consequences.

weforum.org  (11.11.2020) COVID-19 has accelerated global efforts to deliver digital healthcare. The move towards value-based healthcare could facilitate universal health coverage and aid post-pandemic recovery. Millions of people living in poverty could benefit directly from new model.

un.org (10.12.2020) The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, slams the levels of financial support for children allocated by high-income countries during the pandemic as totally inadequate, in a child poverty report issued on Friday.

(24.11.2020) China is planning to include new measures to encourage more births and address its rapidly aging population as part of its new 2021-2025 “five-year plan”, state media reported on Monday.

South China Morning Post (29.11.2020) China is planning policies to boost the economic contribution of its elderly citizens, including improving their use of technology In 2019, 12.6 per cent of China’s population was aged 65 or above and that group will hit 300 million by 2025, official data shows

The child care benefit during COVID-19 pandemic will remain available to be used an unlimited number of times until June 2021, as provided by amendments to the Law on Maternity and Sickness Insurance approved by Latvian Saeima’s Social and Employment Matters Committee. The benefit will not be paid if a person is employed, performs economic operations and gains income. The benefit will not be available if the person is paid sick leave, parent, maternity, paternity or idle-period benefits.

Ministry of Labour (01.12.2020) There will be a reduction in ancillary wage costs for all businesses with BUAG affiliation for the months of January to March 2021. Employers are relieved of the surcharges for the bridging allowance. This regulation also applies to the following years, but from December to March. This relief for the companies makes it more attractive to keep employees busy over the winter.

Ministry of Labour (01.12.2020) Up to now, companies in the building trade and the construction industry have been reimbursed an amount of 17 percent for non-wage labor costs for the winter holidays, on which the employee is entitled to continued payment. The ancillary wage costs for social security contributions, family burden compensation fund (FLAF) and municipal tax are now reimbursed in full for the six winter holidays on construction (December 24th to 26th and 31st and January 1st and 6th) at a rate of 30.1 percent. The financing is provided by the BUAK (construction workers vacation and severance fund ). This measure gives construction companies an incentive to keep their workers in employment over the winter instead of registering them as unemployed.

Naver (09.12.2020) South Korea will extend its state employment insurance program to artists starting Thursday as the first step toward expanding coverage to all workers by 2025. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday that artists under work contracts who earn monthly income of at least 500,000 won ($460) will be eligible for coverage under the amended Employment Insurance Act. 

Artists will be eligible to receive an allowance equivalent to 60 percent of their income for at least 120 days if they have paid into the plan for at least nine months.

“From the employment insurance being applied to artists, the measure is believed to help artists who struggle from unstable and declining income from the COVID-19 pandemic as an employment safety net.”

UNDP (03.11.2020) Severe long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty on top of the current pandemic trajectory, bringing the total to over 1 billion by 2030, according to findings released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).