Reinvigorating the social contract and strengthening social cohesion: Social protection responses to COVID‐19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of those who are inadequately covered by social protection in more and less developed countries alike, and has exacerbated the fragility of a social contract that was already under strain in many countries. A weak social contract in the context of an exceptional crisis poses a very real risk to social cohesion. Nevertheless, many States have reasserted themselves as the guarantor of rights by protecting public health and incomes. By sustaining these measures, economic recovery will be supported which will help minimize risks that may weaken social cohesion. However, this is a fast-moving, inherently unstable and protracted crisis. Social protection stands at a critical juncture. Decisive policy action will be required to strengthen social protection systems, including floors, as one of the cornerstones of a reinvigorated social contract.

Trust boosts recovery of countries from COVID-19

“…Our results are robust to analyzing just the first peaks in each country (Table S14) or using a more stringent fitting of exponential decay (Table S15) -both of which reduce the sample size. The results support suggestions (14,15) that variation in resilience to COVID-19 reflects, among other things, variation in the nature and strength of the 'social contract' across countries. Different theories of the social contract (16) encompass both reciprocal trust among citizens (17), and between citizens and their government (political elite) (18,19).…”

“…Despite all this we find a marked effect of trust, which adds to evidence that trust can support increased COVID-19 risk perception (23), decreased mortality early in the pandemic (24), and an earlier peak of new infections (25). Before the pandemic, the rise of neoliberalism since the 1980s and austerity policies since the 2008/9 financial crash had eroded the social contract between citizens and government in many nations (15). Most governments have responded to the pandemic with social protection policies to strengthen the social contract (15), and vaccination is also part of the social contract (26).…”

“…Before the pandemic, the rise of neoliberalism since the 1980s and austerity policies since the 2008/9 financial crash had eroded the social contract between citizens and government in many nations (15). Most governments have responded to the pandemic with social protection policies to strengthen the social contract (15), and vaccination is also part of the social contract (26). Trust in institutions has increased in the short-term (27)(28)(29), but pandemics can erode trust in the long-term (30).…”

Feminist Economic Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In the longer run, it remains to be seen if governments will pursue a "high road" strategy that sustains and integrates the mostly temporary measures hitherto adopted into national social protection systems, while building participatory mechanisms for program design and accountability, or if they will fall back on a "low road" strategy and limit their response to minimalist "safety nets" and stop-gap measures, leaving large gaps in protection (Razavi et al 2020). Feminist economics analysis can also provide useful insights into these policy responses.…”

Distance Learning of Indonesian Early Childhood Education (PAUD) during the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…In September, 946 thousand mobile numbers consisting of PAUD teachers and parents received the internet subsidy, and around 7,2 million additional internet vouchers were distributed in October 2020 (Eko BH, 2020a). By protecting income and health, the economic recovery will reduce the impact of lack of social cohesion (Razavi, Behrendt, Bierbaum, Orton, & Tessier, 2020).…”