Reuters (06.03.2019) - Italy’s flagship welfare reform kicked off in busy but orderly fashion on Wednesday as thousands of poor and unemployed people applied in post offices and tax assistance centers for the “citizens’ income” scheme.

World Economic Forum (27.03.2019) Three years ago, it was hard to avoid all the Universal Basic Income (UBI) trials. First Finland announced that it would launch a UBI experiment, then Switzerland voted on (but rejected) a UBI trial. Next Ontario, Canada announced it was getting in on the game, followed by proposed experiments in Utrecht, Barcelona, California, and Kenya.

InfoMigrants (29.04.2019) Austria’s far-right government has pegged social benefits to German language skills and family size. While the government defended the reform, the cuts were met with criticism by opposition parties and UNHCR.

OECD  - The advent of the direct acting anti-virals (DAAs) for hepatitis C, the increasing use of high cost biologics, and the escalating launch prices of oncology medicines in particular, have raised concerns that pharmaceutical expenditure growth could become increasingly difficult to sustain. In order to ensure adequate resource mobilisation, and to manage the entry of major new therapies, many countries see value in trying to anticipate changes in market dynamics and by doing so, to attempt to forecast future pharmaceutical expenditure.

BusinessWorld (02.05.2019) THhe Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it operations in the Philippines between 2020 and 2022 will focus on social assistance, education and flood control among others. In a statement Tuesday, the bank said it is preparing its 2020-2022 Philippines Country Operations Business Plan, with initiatives including the Expanded Social Assistance project, the Facilitating Youth School-to-Work program and the Workplace Skills Funding pilot project.

Diario El Heraldo (02.05.2019) El ingreso anual per cápita del hondureño es de $2,500. Por su PIB, Honduras es el tercer país más pobre de América Latina . Consecuentemente, las escalas salariales, exceptuando las percibidas por la alta jerarquía burocrática, están entre las más bajas de Centroamérica.

bloomberg.com (04.04.2019) Unemployed people derive significant psychological benefits from receiving a fixed amount of financial support from the state, according to a landmark experiment into basic income in Finland that highlights the disadvantages of the country’s existing means-tested system.

OECD (29.04.2019) Employment is rising in OECD countries but most jobs continue to be created in relatively low-productivity, low-wage activities, says a new OECD report

EurActiv (19.04.2019) Deep divisions among MEPs made it clear on Thursday (19 April) that the social security coordination directive, aimed at enforcing the rights of mobile workers, would be postponed for the next European Parliament, after May’s EU elections.

Background The OECD countries have recently promoted policies of deinstitutionalisation and community-based carefor the elderly. These policies respond to common cost pressures associated with population aging, and the challenge ofproviding improved care for the elderly. They aim to substitute less costly services for institutional ones, to improve patientsatisfaction and decrease expenses. However, views concerning their success are mixed.