The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on working poverty: Theoretical and conceptual reflections

Abstract

Due to the ongoing Covid-crisis, the number of workers benefiting from short-time work schemes was high, especially during lockdowns, another large group of workers started working from home, and others, unfortunately, lost their jobs. The current situation is unprecedented, because it is the only global recession driven solely by a pandemic and the decrease in life expectancy is the worst since World War II. This article first shows that the literature on the socioeconomic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic does not say much about working poverty. Applying a theo-retical model presented in 2018 based on the four mechanisms that lead to working poverty (at the household level), this article considers the potential short- and midterm implications of the pandemic for the working poor in Europe. It also proposes conceptual reflections about which working poverty indicators may improve our understanding of what has unfolded since the pandemic began.