Responses to COVID-19 Social and Economic Impacts: A Comparative Analysis in Southern European Countries

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic globally affected European societies. This new crisis arrived after a period of gradual recovery from the 2008 financial crisis that had jeopardized the achievement of Europe Strategy 2020 (ES2020) targets. The need to recover for the Southern European countries, which had austerity programs during the financial crisis, is crucial to ensure a continuum of economic and social development. This study aims to analyze the impact of the two last international crises on the accomplishment of ES2020 goals and how the ‘NextGenerationEU’ program presents a mechanism to recover from the pandemic’s socioeconomic impacts. We analyzed secondary statistical data from Eurostat and official European documents. Additionally, we carried out a systematic analysis of 162 measures of the recovery and resilience plan from Southern European countries (Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal). The results showed that ES2020 targets were at risk, particularly in the field of employment, combating poverty, and social exclusion. Currently, there is strong European investment in response to the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic, with all countries defining measures adjusted to protect the most vulnerable groups. However, the implications of these responses require a political commitment for them to effectively contribute to sustainable recovery and development.

Cleaning in Times of Pandemic: Perceptions of COVID-19 Risks among Workers in Facility Services

“…However, it is reasonable to assume that exposure to environments where people circulate and the risk of transmission is perceived as high would leave some marks on how workers feel about their job and their general well-being, especially their mental well-being. That was the starting hypothesis for the research presented in this paper (Roig et al 2022;Casquilho-Martins and Belchior-Rocha 2022).…”

How personal values follow the societal lockdown due to COVID-19: Case of business students in Slovenia

“…At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 in Europe was marked by various circumstances from the 1st wave (from January to the end of June) through the summer period (from July to September) and to the 2nd wave (from September to the end of the year) of the epidemic (CRC, 2022;HSPM, 2022). The European countries 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.987715 responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 by activating and implementing various measures to manage the crisis, from preventive measures to complete restrictions on movement and social life in societies (Harper et al, 2020;Wilder-Smith and Freedman, 2020;Casquilho-Martins and Belchior-Rocha, 2022).…”

“…Growing up of young adults in prevailing conditions of prosperity and social security open questions about their ability to cope with the radical deterioration of living circumstances (Vecchione et al, 2016;Wilder-Smith and Freedman, 2020), and their willingness to change their personal values in worsening circumstances (Grasso et al, 2021;Casquilho-Martins and Belchior-Rocha, 2022).…”

Path dependence or steps for major reforms? Pandemic-related social protection measures in ten OECD countries

“…During COVID-19, the comparative studies in the Global North have largely focused on welfare state comparisons within welfare regimes (Aidukaite et al, 2021; Béland et al, 2021a; Cantillon, Seeleib-Kaiser, & van der Veen, 2021; Casquilho-Martins & Belchior-Rocha, 2022; Greve et al, 2021; Hick & Murphy, 2021; Moreira et al, 2021; Soon, Chou, & Shi, 2021). Mostly, the scope of the research has covered one or two subthemes in social protection like short- time schemes (Cook & Grimshaw, 2021), protection of standard and non-standard workers (Seemann et al, 2021), work-family policies (Bariola & Collins, 2021), care-related measures (Daly, 2022) and housing and referrals compared to the Great Recession 2008 (Moreira & Hick, 2021).…”

“…There is emerging literature of comparative studies on COVID-19-related social protection measures with emphasis on certain social protection aspects (e.g. Aidukaite et al, 2021; Bariola & Collins, 2021; Béland et al, 2021a; Casquilho-Martins & Belchior-Rocha, 2022; Cook & Grimshaw, 2021; Daly, 2022; Greener, 2021; Greve et al, 2021; Kempf & Dutta, 2021; Moreira & Hick, 2021; Moreira et al, 2021; Pereirinha & Pereira, 2021; Seemann et al, 2021; Soon, Chou, & Shi, 2021). In this paper, we re-develop an analytical framework to conduct a systematic qualitative analysis of change repertoires with a comparative perspective in the Global North.…”