Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Japan (08.03.2021) The exceptional treatment of Employment Adjustment Subsidy is extended until 30 April 2021. The subsidy scheme covers part of leave allowances companies pay to furloughed workers. Typically up to two-thirds of the allowances were covered by the program, with the upper limit set at ¥8,370 per day per employee. But under special measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 crisis up to the full amount is covered, with the daily cap set at ¥15,000.

Development Pathways (11.03.2021) As part of recent COVID-19-related legislation, the US Government has committed to provide a quasi-universal child benefit (an affluence-tested “qUCB”) – a monthly child cash benefit where, like in Iceland, only the very wealthiest families will not receive the full amount. This child benefit – which transforms the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC) to pay up to USD 300 per month per child under 6, and USD 250 per child aged 6 to 17 – is likely to have a positive impact far beyond the family budget.

Buying insurance through the government program known as COBRA would temporarily become a lot cheaper. COBRA, for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, generally lets someone who loses a job buy coverage via the former employer. But it’s expensive: Under normal circumstances, a person may have to pay at least 102 percent of the cost of the premium. Under the relief bill, the government would pay the entire COBRA premium from April 1 through Sept. 30. A person who qualified for new, employer-based health insurance someplace else before Sept.

AFP (11.03.2021)  With the massive $1.9 trillion US stimulus plan approved by Congress on Wednesday, President Joe Biden is marking a dramatic shift in US social policy, with the goal of cutting child poverty in half. "The American Rescue Plan represents a powerful change in social policy in the United States," said Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy. After the economy sustained deep damage from the Covid-19 pandemic, the rescue package aims to boost US growth this year, with some economists predicting an expansion of as much as seven percent.

US Stimulus Bill:  The stimulus payments would be $1,400 for most recipients. Those who are eligible would also receive an identical payment for each of their children. To qualify for the full $1,400, a single person would need an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or below. For heads of household, adjusted gross income would need to be $112,500 or below, and for married couples filing jointly that number would need to be $150,000 or below.

The Washington Post (10.03.2021) President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which the House passed Wednesday and Biden is expected to sign this week, is mammoth in scope — a number so large it can be hard to conceptualize in concrete terms. But amid a pandemic that has wrought severe economic damage around the world, many governments have made dramatic spending pledges.

reuters.com (09.03.2021) From Australia to Egypt, migrants and refugees have been especially hard hit by job losses and economic pain during the coronavirus pandemic, with many struggling to access healthcare and state aid, a survey showed on Tuesday. The survey, published in a report by the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Global Migration Lab

reliefweb.int (2020)

africanews.com (25.02.2021)

standard.gm (02.10.2020)

The Government of Gambia announced a new 250M Covid-19 emergency fund to support families affected by the economic downturn of the Covid-19 pandemic that includes the provision of a cash package of D3,000 to all families.