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The labour market fallout of COVID‐19: Who endures, who doesn't and what are the implications for inequality

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  • Sergei SOARES
  • Janine BERG

Abstract

Government responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic have differed in scope and design, with important implications for the labour market as a whole but also for specific groups of workers. Using labour force survey data from seven middle‐ and high‐income countries, this article analyses transitions in the labour market in the first two quarters of 2020 and compares them with transitions in the previous year. The authors find that governments that favoured wage subsidies over other forms of income support were able to lessen labour market volatility, but that in all seven countries studied the COVID‐19 pandemic exacerbated labour market inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergei SOARES & Janine BERG, 2022. "The labour market fallout of COVID‐19: Who endures, who doesn't and what are the implications for inequality," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 161(1), pages 5-28, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:161:y:2022:i:1:p:5-28
    DOI: 10.1111/ilr.12214
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Török, Ádám & Konka, Boglárka & Nagy, Andrea Magda, 2023. "A koronavírus-járvány a közgazdasági szakirodalomban. Egy új határterület tudománymetriai elemzése [The coronavirus pandemic in the economics literature. The scientometric analysis of a new discipline]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 284-304.
    2. Issehnane Sabina & Moulin Léonard, 2024. "In the Eye of the Storm: The Disrupted Career Paths of Young People in the Wake of COVID-19," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 24(2), pages 565-596, April.
    3. Yaming Zhang & Xiaoyu Guo & Yanyuan Su & Yaya Hamadou Koura H & Na Wang & Wenjie Song, 2023. "Changes in spatiotemporal pattern and network characteristics in population migration of China’s cities before and after COVID-19," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Richard Preetz & Julius Greifenberg & Julika Hülsemann & Andreas Filser, 2022. "Moving Back to the Parental Home in Times of COVID-19: Consequences for Students’ Life Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-13, August.
    5. Bachmann, Ronald & Heinze, Inga & Klauser, Roman, 2025. "New jobs, new joys? Monetary and non-monetary returns to occupational mobility," Ruhr Economic Papers 1182, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

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