British Politics and Policy at LSE (03.11.2020) Jonathan Wadsworth explains why the furlough scheme seems to have done its job in preventing mass layoffs, as well as other reasons why the total entering unemployment is still much lower than in the 2008-2011 downturn.

VOX, CEPR Policy Portal (04.11.2020) While few groups have weathered the Covid-19 crisis unscathed, recent evidence suggests that the damage has been especially extreme among the economically vulnerable. This column evaluates changing attitudes towards welfare spending as a result of the pandemic. The findings suggest that people living in areas most severely hit by the crisis are increasingly supportive of long-term reforms to the welfare system.

lemonde.fr (23.10.2020) Cette mesure d’urgence pourrait se pérenniser et inspirer d’autres programmes de revenu universel sur le continent.  8-5-5… Trois chiffres qui ont permis aux vendeuses de rue de Lomé, aux couturières ou aux cuisinières de continuer à nourrir leurs enfants au plus fort de la pandémie de Covid-19. En composant ce numéro sur leur téléphone mobile, ces femmes, dont l’activité informelle a disparu à cause de la crise, ont pu bénéficier d’un revenu minimum.

Federal Public Service Employment, Labor and Social Dialogue (30.10.2020). The law of 23 October 2020 extends, as October 1st, to salaried workers the benefit of the temporary unemployment scheme for force majeure due to corona in the event of the closure of the school, daycare or reception center for disabled people of their child introduced.

ONEM (03.11.2020) Currently, for employers who are not recognized as a particularly affected company or belonging to a particularly affected sector, this temporary unemployment still requires electronic communication from the employer to the ONEM. A simplification of the procedure being envisaged, these employers are not, for the moment, required to make this communication, which is not subject to a deadline.  

ILO (21.10.2020) This paper provides updated regional and global estimates of the costs and financing gaps for targets 1.3 and 3.8 of the SDGs relating to social protection and health care in 2020 and projections of incremental financial needs for reaching universal coverage in 2030. The paper analyses options for filling social protection financing gaps in developing countries during the crisis and beyond using domestic and external resources, including the strengthening and expansion of contributory systems. The analysis incorporates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

latinamerica.undp.org (14.10.2020) The Government of Honduras launched “Single Voucher” (Bono Unico), an innovative social protection program aimed at supporting the most vulnerable population affected by COVID-19 in Honduras. The Single Voucher is a one-time subsidy of $82 dollars (2,000 lempiras) delivered through an electronic voucher that can be exchanged for food, medicine and /or medical supplies to up to 260,000 persons in the country in the next three months. 

moroccoworldnews.com (20.10.2020) Morocco established several innovative digital solutions to increase the number of beneficiaries of social protection schemes during the pandemic.

Development Pathways (08.10.2020) COVID-19 has sparked a mass of interest in “basic income”. South Africa’s Minister of Social Development has advocated it; Spain has promised it on a permanent basis; UNDP has argued for it globally (at least on a temporary basis)... But the more you look at basic income, the less attractive it seems, at least from a social protection perspective.

BBC News (07.10.2020) Extreme poverty is set to rise this year for the first time in more than two decades, with coronavirus expected to push up to 115 million people into that category, the World Bank has said.