The role of an emergency basic income: Lessons from the Latin American experience to confront the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

AbstractThe article provides a brief overview of the social impacts of the COVID‐19 crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, presenting how these are intertwined with a structural deficit of social protection systems. It also describes the main features of the emergency social protection responses adopted by Latin American countries that are relevant to the ongoing debate on an emergency basic income. Finally, it discusses the role, implications, and challenges in implementing an emergency basic income as a sustainable entitlement, embedded in the social protection system, to be activated in times of crisis.