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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on lives and livelihoods around the world. Many countries have taken unprecedented measures to extend social safety nets, especially for vulnerable groups such as low-income households, children and young people, women, low-skilled workers, part-time or temporary workers, and the self-employed.

This page features the latest OECD data, recommendations and policy advice regarding the impact of COVID-19 on social protection, jobs, education and skills, and well-being, as well as a curated collection of earlier OECD social content.

 

Key insights

08/03/2021

International Women's Day

Binary gender perceptions, such as the social expectations of women as caregivers and men as breadwinners, continue to be the norm today across the globe.

These are having negative impacts on the equity, well-being, inclusion and opportunities of women, girls and LGBTQ+ communities, and confine men and boys to rigid scripts of masculinity.

It is time to instill a culture of equality.

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11/01/2021

Making Better Policies for Food Systems

Food systems around the world face a triple challenge: providing food security and nutrition for a growing global population; supporting livelihoods for those working along the food supply chain; and contributing to environmental sustainability. Better policies hold tremendous promise for making progress in these domains.

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Making Better Policies for Food Systems

22/12/2020

Development Co-operation Report 2020

The devastating impacts of COVID-19 on developing countries have tested the limits, ingenuity and flexibility of development co-operation while also uncovering best practices.

This 58th edition of the Development Co-operation Report draws out early insights from leaders, OECD members, experts and civil society on the implications of coronavirus (COVID-19) for global solidarity and international co-operation for development in 2021 and beyond.

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Development Co-operation Report 2020

See our latest policy advice

This new series brings together data, analysis and recommendations on a range of topics related to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on people and livelihoods

Access to all policy responses

Caregiving in Crisis: Gender inequality in paid and unpaid work during COVID-19

The recession shadowing the COVID-19 pandemic has been frequently characterised as a “shecession,” implying disproportionately negative effects for women. Yet the crisis might more accurately be called a “momcession,” as women’s work losses were driven...
13/12/2021
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Building inclusive labour markets: Active labour market policies for the most vulnerable groups

The COVID-19 pandemic risks widening further the divide in labour market outcomes for the most vulnerable groups who face numerous employment obstacles, such as limited work experience, care obligations, low skills or health limitations. Not...
08/10/2021
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The effect of COVID-19 on alcohol consumption, and policy responses to prevent harmful alcohol consumption

The COVID‑19 pandemic and its associated government measures to limit mobility impacted patterns and places of alcohol consumption. While the path to recovery remains long and difficult, this crisis also increases the risk that individuals...
19/05/2021
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Supporting young people’s mental health through the COVID-19 crisis

The mental health of young people has been significantly impacted by the COVID‑19 crisis. Prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression has risen dramatically among young people and remains higher than pre‑crisis levels even with...
12/05/2021
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From childcare and elderly support to housing and food security, this collection focuses on people and livelihoods. It pulls together OECD analysis and data spanning a multitude of issues related to social protection and inequalities, many of which are being challenged in the context of the global coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

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18/01/2022
Report
Trends Shaping Education 2022
Did you ever wonder what the impact of climate change will be on our educational institutions in the next decade? What does it mean for schools that our societies are becoming more individualistic and diverse? Trends Shaping Education is a triennial report examining major economic, political, social and technological trends affecting education. While the trends are robust, the questions raised in this book are suggestive, and aim to inform strategic thinking and stimulate reflection on the challenges facing education.This 2022 edition covers a rich array of topics related to economic growth, living and working, knowledge and power, identity and belonging and our physical world and human bodies and interactions. It includes a specific focus on the impact of COVID‑19 on global trends, and new futures thinking sections inviting readers to reflect on how the future might differ from our current expectations.This book is designed to give policy makers, researchers, educational leaders, administrators and teachers a robust, non-specialist source of international comparative trends shaping education, whether in schools, universities or in programmes for older adults. It will also be of interest to students and the wider public, including parents.
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14/01/2022
Paper
Policy brief on making the most of the social economy’s contribution to the circular economy
This policy brief on the social economy and its contribution to the circular economy was produced by the OECD and the European Commission. The brief defines concepts of both the circular and social economy and describes the potential of the social economy to support circular activities and related business models and to reinforce uptake of circularity in our economies and societies. It finally identifies policy orientations that build on the complementarity of the social and circular economies, and help the social economy support circularity and drive a green and inclusive transition.
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23/12/2021
Paper
Gender-responsive COVID-19 recovery
Responding to the gender impacts of COVID-19 – including lost economic opportunities when taking on more domestic and care work in the health sector and at home, and increased violence – requires more tailored policies and resources that support gender equality and women’s empowerment. It also means including women in leadership and decision making in all aspects of the recovery. Official development assistance (ODA) is key to improved gender analysis by donors and development partners, and the broader application of gender-responsive budgeting tools across public finance management (PFM) systems. This paper provides recommendations to better align ODA to gender-sensitive responses in the disbursement of COVID-19 relief and recovery funds, and considers how PFM systems should be strengthened by donors and partner countries to provide for gender-sensitive recoveries.
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21/12/2021
Report
Development Co-operation Report 2021
Digital transformation is revolutionising economies and societies with rapid technological advances in AI, robotics and the Internet of Things. Low- and middle-income countries are struggling to gain a foothold in the global digital economy in the face of limited digital capacity, skills, and fragmented global and regional rules. Political stability, democracy, human rights and equality also risk being undermined by weak governance and the abuse of digital technology.The 2021 edition of the Development Co-operation Report makes the case for choosing to hardwire inclusion into digital technology processes, and emerging norms and standards. Providing the latest evidence and policy analysis from experts in national governments, international organisations, academia, business and civil society, the report equips international development organisations with the latest guidance and good practices that put people and the sustainable development goals at the centre of digital transformation.
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13/12/2021
Policy response
Caregiving in Crisis: Gender inequality in paid and unpaid work during COVID-19
The recession shadowing the COVID-19 pandemic has been frequently characterised as a “shecession,” implying disproportionately negative effects for women. Yet the crisis might more accurately be called a “momcession,” as women’s work losses were driven in large part by the outcomes of mothers specifically. The OECD’s 2020 Risks that Matter survey presents cross-national evidence that when schools and childcare facilities shut down, mothers took on the brunt of additional unpaid care work – and, correspondingly, they experienced labour market penalties and stress. These findings serve as another reminder that governments must consider inequalities in unpaid work and take a gender-sensitive approach when building their policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
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07/12/2021
Paper
Building teachers’ well-being from primary to upper secondary education
As education systems face a post-COVID-19 world, we must not lose sight of the importance of teachers’ well-being. Already, prior to the pandemic, teachers were struggling to cope with workload and stress, as shown by the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), one of the first international efforts to capture the well-being of the teaching workforce. Nevertheless, schools and teachers have the tools to improve well-being and reduce stress at the work place.The goal of this brief is to provide some glimpses into concrete actions that schools and education systems could take to improve teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction.
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02/12/2021
Report
Latin American Economic Outlook 2021
The Latin American Economic Outlook 2021: Working Together for a Better Recovery aims to analyse and provide policy recommendations for a strong, inclusive and environmentally sustainable recovery in the region. The report explores policy actions to improve social protection mechanisms and increase social inclusion, foster regional integration and strengthen industrial strategies, and rethink the social contract to restore trust and empower citizens at all stages of the policy‑making process. Moreover, it stresses the need to promote sustainable and adapted macro‑economic frameworks to finance the recovery, as well as the importance of renewing international co‑operation to support these policy actions. Finally, the publication includes three crucial cross‑cutting themes: climate change and the green recovery, the digital transformation, and gender.The LEO is a joint annual publication produced by the OECD Development Centre, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the European Union (EU). It is the first pillar of the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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02/12/2021
Report
SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Africa
The SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Africa provides regional analysis on how discriminatory social institutions, such as formal and informal laws, social norms and practices, continue to constrain women’s empowerment and restrict their access to opportunities and rights. It gives new evidence on the impact of these discriminatory social institutions on three key dimensions of women’s empowerment across the region: their physical integrity, their economic situation and their political voice, leadership and agency. The report provides regional as well as thematic policy recommendations that aim to transform gender norms, promote women’s empowerment and build a truly inclusive society, especially in the current context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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01/12/2021
Paper
Labour market transitions across OECD countries: Stylised facts
This paper provides a descriptive analysis of patterns and trends of worker transitions across European countries and the United States, with an emphasis on differences across socio-economic groups. Understanding labour market transitions is important to gauge the scope of labour market reallocation and scarring effects from the COVID-19 crisis. Results of this work show that labour market transitions vary significantly from one country to another and also within countries from one socio-economic group to another. For instance, women are much more likely than men to move in and out of jobs. This reflects the unequal burden of family-related work, which contributes to the higher propensity of women to drop out of the labour force. Zooming in on labour market transitions over the great financial crisis provides an illustration of the long-lasting effects and scarring risks associated with recessions on labour market transitions, especially for young people entering the labour market. The results of this granular analysis inform the policy debate for an efficient and inclusive recovery. While current priorities vary across countries based on economic and social context, one overarching challenge for the recovery is to facilitate hiring dynamics and to minimise long-term unemployment and scarring risks among vulnerable groups who have been hardest hit and face higher risks of scarring from the recession, in particular young people and women.
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25/11/2021
Report
COVID-19 and Well-being
COVID-19 and Well-being: Life in the Pandemic explores the immediate implications of the pandemic for people’s lives and livelihoods in OECD countries. The report charts the course of well-being – from jobs and incomes through to social connections, health, work-life balance, safety and more – using data collected during the first 12-15 months of the pandemic. It also takes stock of what has happened to human, economic, social and natural capital that, beyond their effects on people’s lives today, shape living conditions for years to come. It shows how COVID-19 has had far-reaching consequences for how we live, work and connect with one another, and how experiences of the pandemic varied widely, depending on whether and where people work, their gender, age, race and ethnicity, education and income levels. The report also examines the role that well-being evidence can play in supporting governments’ pandemic recovery efforts. It argues that a well-being lens can prompt policy-makers to refocus on the outcomes that matter the most to people, to redesign policy content from a more multidimensional perspective, to realign policy practice across government silos, and to reconnect people with the public institutions that serve them.
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23/11/2021
Paper
Social vouchers
This paper explores the role of social vouchers as a tool for social inclusion and local development. It presents a typology of vouchers and their objectives, governing institutional and regulatory frameworks, use by national and local governments, and the social economy (Section1). It analyses the challenges and opportunities for the development of vouchers in light of the COVID-19 crisis and suggests recommendations to effectively capitalise on social vouchers as a tool to “build back better” (Section 2). Finally, it illustrates and analyses specific cases in Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Mexico, Morocco and Romania (Section 3).
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18/11/2021
Report
Does Inequality Matter?
The recovery after the COVID-19 crisis requires policies and reforms that tackle inequalities and promote equal opportunities. However, the implementation of such reforms requires widespread support from the public. To better understand what factors drive public support, this report provides a detailed cross-country analysis of people’s perceptions of and concern over inequality. It documents how concern over income disparities has risen in OECD countries over the long run. Nowadays, in most countries a large majority of the population believes that income disparities are too large and that intergenerational mobility is low. Yet, sufficient support for inequality-reducing policies may fail to arise if people do not agree on concrete policy options, or doubt the effectiveness of such policies. Moreover, even when the majority demands more equality, a divided public opinion can complicate the introduction of reforms. The report highlights how people within the same country are often divided as to the extent of inequality and what should be done to address this challenge. The report illustrates how the findings from analysis of perceptions and concerns can serve to inform policy making.
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28/10/2021
Report
International Migration Outlook 2021
The 2021 edition of International Migration Outlook analyses recent developments in migration movements and the labour market inclusion of immigrants in OECD countries. It also monitors recent policy changes in migration governance and integration in OECD countries. This edition includes two special chapters, one providing an in-depth analysis of the fiscal impact of migration in OECD countries since the mid 2000s and another on the causes and consequences of the residential segregation of immigrants. The Outlook also includes country notes and a detailed statistical annex.
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28/10/2021
Report
How’s Life in Latin America?
Many Latin American countries have experienced improvements in income over recent decades, with several of them now classified as high-income or upper middle-income in terms of conventional metrics. But has this change been mirrored in improvements across the different areas of people’s lives? How’s Life in Latin America? Measuring Well-being for Policy Making addresses this question by presenting comparative evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with a focus on 11 LAC countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). Spanning material conditions, quality of life, resources for future well-being, and inequalities, the report presents available evidence on well-being both before and since the onset of the pandemic, based on the OECD Well-being Framework. It also identifies priorities for addressing well-being gaps and describes how well-being frameworks are used in policy within Latin America and elsewhere around the world, providing lessons for governments on what is needed to put people’s well-being at the centre of their action. The report is part of the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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08/10/2021
Policy response
Building inclusive labour markets: Active labour market policies for the most vulnerable groups
The COVID-19 pandemic risks widening further the divide in labour market outcomes for the most vulnerable groups who face numerous employment obstacles, such as limited work experience, care obligations, low skills or health limitations. Not all these groups show up on the radar of public employment services (PES), which is why it is important to identify the groups at risk and their needs, develop effective outreach strategies, and provide integrated, comprehensive and well-targeted support. This in turn requires a good exchange of information and co-operation between the relevant institutions responsible for the provision of employment, health, education and social services, as well as income support.
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22/09/2021
Paper
How socio-economics plays into students learning on their own
Most students have the beliefs and dispositions to help them cope and learn in challenging situations. The current pandemic has been ongoing since early 2020. This has affected ways in which teaching and learning are organised. Schools have had to provide education in different ways from the past. A special survey conducted as a collaborative effort between the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank showed that upper-secondary schools were fully closed for over 65 days in 2020 on average across OECD countries with available data. The special survey also showed that where school closures were needed many countries made major efforts to mitigate their impact on students, focusing especially on vulnerable students by providing remedial measures to reduce students’ learning gaps. Despite these efforts, recently released studies have shown that learning loss during the pandemic was most pronounced among socio-economically disadvantaged students and schools.
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16/09/2021
Report
Education at a Glance 2021
Education at a Glance is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and a number of partner economies. More than 100 charts and tables in this publication – as well as links to much more available on the educational database – provide key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; access, participation and progression in education; the financial resources invested in education; and teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools.The 2021 edition includes a focus on equity, investigating how progress through education and the associated learning and labour market outcomes are impacted by dimensions such as gender, socio-economic status, country of birth and regional location. A specific chapter is dedicated to Target 4.5 of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on equity in education, providing an assessment of where OECD and partner countries stand in providing equal access to quality education at all levels. Two new indicators on the mechanisms and formulas used to allocate public funding to schools and on teacher attrition rate complement this year's edition.
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06/09/2021
Paper
Where did it hit harder?
This paper analyses the uneven geography of the COVID-19 health impact in OECD and European countries. It first describes the increase in all-cause mortality – i.e. excess mortality – across subnational regions between January and December 2020. Subsequently, it investigates the regional factors associated with higher excess mortality, looking at demographic, socio-economic, institutional and environmental features of regions. Results show that excess mortality has a significant spatial dimension, with the hardest hit regions having excess mortality rates that were, on average, 17 percentage points higher than the least affected regions in the same country. During the first year of the pandemic, lower health system capacity, followed by population density, air pollution, share of elderly population and lower institutional quality were associated with higher excess mortality. While health system capacity and population density have been strongly associated to excess mortality throughout the COVID-19 crisis, trust in government and air pollution showed stronger correlations with excess mortality in the later phases of the pandemic. Finally, prolonged remote working, particularly after two-months, is also associated with lower excess mortality.
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13/07/2021
Report
What’s Next? Lessons on Education Recovery
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have collaborated in the third round of the Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures, administered by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and OECD to Ministry of Education officials. The questions covered four levels of education: preprimary, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary. While the first two rounds of the survey were implemented during the periods May–June and July–October 2020, respectively, the third round was implemented during the period February–June 2021. In total, 143 countries responded to the questionnaire. Thirty-one countries submitted responses to the OECD (“OECD survey”) and 112 countries responded to the UIS (“UIS survey”). Seven countries responded to both surveys. In these instances, the more complete set responses were used in analysis.
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12/07/2021
Report
Main Findings from the 2020 Risks that Matter Survey
The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred perhaps the largest expansion of social protection systems in seventy years. Yet many people are still deeply affected by the crisis and are calling for even more help. Drawing on 25 000 responses across 25 OECD countries, the 2020 Risks that Matter survey finds that people are worried about keeping their jobs, paying the bills and staying healthy. Almost seven out of ten respondents say that their government should be doing more to ensure their economic and social security, and many are willing to pay more in taxes to support this. The perspectives presented in this report offer important lessons for how to expand and reform social protection as our societies and economies slowly start to recover from the pandemic.
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