This policy brief discusses the measures countries have taken to support the livelihoods of those who cannot access unemployment benefits or short-term work schemes. It examines the raft of new programmes introduced across the OECD and beyond, including means-tested assistance, new cash transfer...

The urgency of tackling COVID-19 has led governments in many countries to launch a number of short-notice and fast-tracked initiatives (e.g. calls for research proposals). Without proper co-ordination amongst ministries and agencies, they run the risk of duplicating efforts or missing...

Unprecedented measures imposed or recommended by governments, including travel restrictions and curtailment of business operations, have been in effect in most jurisdictions in various forms and stages during most of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this situation continues in 2021. This...

Job retention (JR) schemes have been one of the main policy tools used by a number of OECD countries to contain the employment and social fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. By May 2020, JR schemes supported about 50 million jobs across the OECD, about ten times as many as during the global...

This policy brief documents how bi- and tri-partite social dialogue at different levels, including collective bargaining, is shaping and implementing measures that support a job-rich recovery – both by assisting workers in moving from declining to expanding job sectors in response to...

The COVID-19 pandemic has wide implications for the socio-economic fabric worldwide. In addition to health fears, citizens are facing a host of financial uncertainties stemming from the temporary closure of businesses, schools, public facilities and quarantines, as well as instability in the...

This OECD COVID-19 policy brief, a product of the Open and Innovative Government Division (OIG) of the Public Governance Directorate of the OECD, examines how and to what extent the crisis has served as a catalyst for government transformation. It draws these observations and analysis from over...

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...

The OECD Career Readiness project makes use of quantitative evidence to investigate how teenage career-related activities and attitudes are associated with better adult employment outcomes. Review of multiple national longitudinal datasets confirms 11 indicators of better outcomes linked to the...