Category / Corona Pandemic / inequality / Labor market
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![Arbeitsvertrag auf dem Kurzarbeit mit Textmarker hervorgehoben wird]()
Short-term work during the pandemic
What impact did short-time work have on employees during the coronavirus pandemic? One study comes to a clear conclusion: short-time work was an “effective instrument to contain the consequences of the economic slump on the labor market,” according to Clara Schäper, one of the authors of this study. Together with Katharina Wrohlich, she analyzed data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Between March 2020 and March 2021, an average of 3.6 million employees per month were on short-time work. A representative survey showed that women were sent on short-time work more often than men. Overall, however, inequality on the labor market did not increase. Those who were on short-time work in 2020 were on average no more likely to become unemployed in the following year than employees not affected by short-time work – regardless of whether they were men or women.
People without access to short-time work, especially “mini-jobbers” and the self-employed, were sometimes hit very hard by the economic impact of the pandemic.Further information
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kurzarbeit schadet der Karriere nicht (for subscribers)
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![Frau sitzt mit Tasse in der Hand und Kopfhörern zu Hause vor dem Computer]()
Reducing the risk of infection for all population groups
Researchers have found that people with socio-economic disadvantages are more likely to have contracted the coronavirus. But does this also apply if they work from home? Researcher Markus M. Grabka and colleagues from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) analyzed data from a survey conducted with the Robert Koch Institute. They compared the risk of infection among people in Germany with lower and higher levels of education who work from home. The result: working from home reduces the risk of infection, especially among people with lower levels of education – an important finding for future pandemic prevention, according to the researchers.
Further information
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