April 2020

20Apr

Ireland. Concern growing as social welfare budget nears breaking point

Concern is growing across Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the capacity of the Department of Social Protection to continue to fund the cost of the coronavirus shutdown without an emergency estimate. The scale of the fiscal challenges are so steep one senior Government source warned: ‘The cost of dealing with coronavirus and its impact, especially on the Social Protection budget, may compel Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to escalate the process of government formation.’ Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are...

April 20, 2020
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17Apr

Income and Wealth Shocks and Expectations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Tobin Hanspal, Annika Weber, Johannes Wohlfart In early April 2020 we conducted a survey on a representative sample of more than 8,000 US households to study the effect of the coronavirus crisis on household income and retirement wealth, households' expectations about the recovery, and the impact of the shock on individuals' economic choices. Wealth shocks are large across the population, but more pronounced for middle-age households and those higher in the wealth and income distributions. This contrasts with...

April 17, 2020
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14Apr

World Bank to allocate 150 mln USD to Ukraine for social protection

The World Bank will provide Ukraine with an additional 150 million U.S. dollars for social protection needs during the COVID-19 epidemic, the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy said on its website Friday. Read also Africa’s demographic transition The statement said 50 million dollars will be used to support vulnerable groups during the outbreak and 100 million dollars are earmarked for improving social protection in general. Read also India: Pension schemes draw more members Ukraine joined the World...

April 14, 2020
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14Apr

Is quarantine like early retirement? These people think so

Shelter-in-place orders have urged most Americans to stay home, freeing hours of time otherwise spent commuting or working at an office. They’re also getting creative about how they use this time, including running around the neighborhood, learning a new language, taking long walks with their dogs and cooking more. Some Reddit users say if this is what early retirement is like, they’re ready. “I sleep in and wake up on my own every day. I watch some news/TV, take...

April 14, 2020
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13Apr

Egypt. COVID-19 crisis likely to propel social protection reforms: Mashaat

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is likely to accelerate the structural reforms as regards the social protection and the irregular workers alongside activating the financial inclusion as per the policies of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), said International Cooperation Minister Rania el Mashaat on Monday. The minister was addressing a video conference session about the short and long-term repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic organized by the Middle East Institute (MEI), a leading non-profit think tank and cultural center...

April 13, 2020
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13Apr

Jamaica. COVID-19 is opportunity in disguise – disaster risk expert

Dr Dennis Edwards, who was part of a panel organised by the Caribbean Sociological Association (CASA) to examine the social fallouts occasioned by the pandemic last week, said COVID-19 should be taken “as a sort of opportunity in disguise”. “I am of the view that we here in the Caribbean – this being maybe the third most multi-hazard region in the world – should be taking this time to simulate, model, drill, not only for a single disaster such...

April 13, 2020
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08Apr

More Than 1 Billion Workers Face ‘Drastic’ Hit From Virus

The coronavirus outbreak is having a “deep, far-reaching and unprecedented” impact on employment, with more than 1 billion workers at high risk of a pay cut or losing their job, according to the International Labor Organization. With factories, schools and shops shuttered around the world, the Geneva-based body says lockdowns are affecting almost 2.7 billion workers. Within that, 1.25 billion are extremely vulnerable, mainly in hotels, food services, manufacturing and retail. Read also US. Some companies are cutting 401(k)...

April 8, 2020
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07Apr

Social protection responses to the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa

Poor and vulnerable South Africans, including domestic, farm, service sector, and self-employed workers as well as children from poor families, face a double shock. COVID-19 is a major health risk that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide and is starting to claim lives in South Africa. Social distancing and self-isolation are necessary to slow the spread of the virus, and the 21-day lockdown is designed to “flatten the curve”. But the lockdown itself has consequences that...

April 7, 2020
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07Apr

Irish Demand for Social Benefits Soars as Coronavirus Bites

The number of people in Ireland dependent on social welfare income support amidst the coronavirus outbreak has soared to more than 700,000 based on numbers released on Monday by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. On April 3, 507,000 people were paid the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support payment, which is a weekly stipend of 350 euros ($377.93) for those who have lost jobs or had hours cut due to coronavirus disruption. That was in addition to 207,000...

April 7, 2020
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01Apr

Kenya’s retirement benefits eroded by coronavirus

Pension managers in Kenya project depressed growth of retirees’ funds due to the coronavirus pandemic that has negatively impacted the financial markets. About 17.5 per cent of retirees’ money was invested in quoted securities at the Nairobi Securities Exchange as at December 2019. This amounted to $2.1 billion, up from $1.8 billion in 2018. In its 2019 industry report, the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) said: “The growth in the retirement benefits sector is projected to drop in the...

April 1, 2020
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