Monetary compensation schemes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Working Paper 2022-613

Abstract

This paper analyses the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on household disposable income and household demand in the European Union (EU) during 2020, making use of the EU microsimulation model EUROMOD and nowcasting techniques. We show evidence ofheterogeneity in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour markets in EU Member States, with some countries hit substantially harder than others. Most EU Member States experience a large drop in market incomes, with poorer households hit the hardest. Tax-benefit systems cushioned significantly the transmission of the shock to the disposableincome and the household demand, with monetary compensation schemes playing a majorrole. Additionally, we show that monetary compensation schemes prevent a significantshare of households from becoming liquidity constrained during the pandemic.

Authors: Michael Christl, Silvia De Poli, Francesco Figari, Tine Hufkens, Chrysa Leventi, Andrea Papini, Alberto Tumino.