COVID-19
COVID-19 brought change to many aspects of our working and family lives and, likewise, all of Eurofound’s research areas have been marked by COVID-19. The Agency rolled out several rounds of the now landmark Living and Working in the EU online survey to analyse the rapid change that ensued after the outbreak of the pandemic. Simultaneously, the analyses in existing surveys and other research have specifically looked at the impacts of the pandemic across the board. The long-term impacts of the pandemic on life and the world of work continues to be a part of upcoming research, looking at labour market change, how digitisation has changed the workplace, how COVID-19 has impacted business continuity and how crises impact equality and cohesion in Europe.
Find the latest content on this topic below.
Working anytime, anywhere: The quality of working time in the EU
This research report examines how flexible working arrangements in the EU affect working time quality, autonomy and employee well-being, comparing recent developments with a decade ago. It analyses differences across skill levels, sectors and Member States, and assesses the role of regulations and policies such as the right to disconnect.Weathering the crisis: How job retention schemes preserved employment and incomes during the pandemic
This report describes the implementation and changing features of job retention schemes in the EU between 2020 and 2022. In response to the COVID-19 health emergency, EU governments swiftly deployed job retention schemes to preserve employment, support businesses and maintain individual incomes. The report shows that, following an initial period during which job retention schemes underwent numerous changes in their eligibility and conditionality criteria, the institutional features of job retention schemes stabilised as the pandemic progressed. Furthermore, the report demonstrates that a high degree of heterogeneity in the features of the schemes was maintained throughout the pandemic and its aftermath. While some of the schemes expired with the end of the pandemic, others were transformed into permanent institutions of the labour market. The report also analyses the employment and distributional effects of job retention schemes, highlighting their significant effects in terms of number of jobs saved and share of personal incomes maintained during the pandemic. An estimated 24.8 million jobs were saved in the EU in 2020 through the use of such schemes. Furthermore, the schemes absorbed more than one-third of the income shock produced by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and more than one-fifth of the income shock in 2021.
Regional employment change and the geography of telework in Europe
The fast and steady recovery in employment following the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU benefited from proactive policy responses to the crisis and from resilient labour markets. Almost 90% of regions across the EU had exceeded their pre-pandemic employment levels by 2022; however, significant regional disparities remain. EU regions fared differently, depending on their economic specialisation and notably on the concentration of jobs in knowledge-intensive services that can be performed remotely. The geography of telework across EU regions was primarily shaped by differences in occupational structure, and fast internet connectivity remains an essential enabling factor. Recent initiatives to support remote work in rural, peripheral or marginalised areas through the creation of coworking spaces show how dynamism and diversity in rural economies can be promoted.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe and their impact on living and working conditions. Drawing on its Network of Eurofound Correspondents, while also adapting the focus of its in-house resources, Eurofound monitors the critical changes the crisis has brought to the labour market, working conditions and quality of life across the EU and aims to map how different Member States have responded to the challenges that have emerged. In response to COVID-19, Eurofound adjusted its research to:
collect data regarding the impact of this unprecedented situation on the lives of Europeans via its unique online survey launched in April 2020, as well as monitor measures taken by policy actors to combat the effects of the pandemic on employment, working conditions and living conditions
provide an analysis of specific topics, such as employment effects, effects on specific sectors, effectiveness of specific measures (for example, short-time work schemes).
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Other relevant resources:
European Restructuring Monitor: impact of COVID-19 on the employment effects of large-scale restructuring events in Europe
European Jobs Monitor: the changing employment structure in Europe in view of the crisis
EU PolicyWatch: database on the responses of government and social partners to the crisis, based on research from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents
Restructuring support instruments - EU PolicyWatch: recording measures which support companies that are restructuring, as well as the employees affected, highlighting when a case is relevant to COVID-19
Platform economy initiatives - COVID-19: how the crisis impacts platform work and platform workers
Since 2020, national and EU authorities have launched a range of support measures to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, which has affected the regular life and work of people in the EU. Specific sectors, many self-employed people and SMEs have been particularly affected by the fallout of the pandemic.
While the EU does not have direct legislative power over health matters (this being the responsibility of individual Member States), the response of the EU – and particularly the European Commission – has focused on stabilising the EU economy, putting in place border control measures, reinforcing our public health sectors, securing the production of vaccines for citizens, as well as supporting various business sectors.
On 10 February 2021, the Commission welcomed the European Parliament’s approval of the €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility available to EU Member States to support reforms and investments under NextGenerationEU, the temporary instrument designed to boost recovery and help Europe emerge stronger from the crisis. The Facility runs until end of December 2026 and is closely linked with the Commission priorities for a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe.
European Commission: Coronavirus response: Timeline of EU actionopens in new tab
European Commission: Recovery and Resilience Facilityopens in new tab
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
7 December 2022
Living, working and COVID-19 in the European Union and 10 EU neighbouring countries
The Living, working and COVID-19 survey, first launched by Eurofound in early 2020, aims to capture the wide-ranging impact of the pandemic on the work and lives of EU citizens. The fifth round of the Eurofound survey, which was implemented in spring 2022, also sheds light on a new uncertain reality caused by the war in Ukraine, record-high inflation and sharp rises in the cost of living. As a pilot survey, a shorter version of the questionnaire was fielded by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 10 European Union (EU) neighbouring countries. This joint Eurofound-ETF factsheet presents a selection of results from the survey covering both the EU-27 and the 10 selected EU neighbouring countries.
The results reveal at least one clear commonality across respondents from all countries: serious concerns about the rising cost of living. At the same time, the results point to a large divergence in living and working conditions between respondents in the two groups of countries, but also show large differences within the EU itself and amongst the selected EU neighbouring countries.
6 July 2022
Fifth round of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty
The fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19 was first detected on the European continent. It also explores the reality of living in a new era of uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, inflation, and rising energy prices.
The findings of the e-survey reveal the heavy toll of the pandemic, with respondents reporting lower trust in institutions than at the start of the pandemic, poorer mental well-being, a rise in the level of unmet healthcare needs and an increase in the number of households experiencing energy poverty.
28 January 2022
COVID-19 and older people: Impact on their lives, support and care
This report captures the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the quality of life of older citizens, including the impact on their well-being, finances, employment and social inclusion. It explores the effects on the use of care services and older people’s reliance on other support. The report presents policy measures that have been implemented in EU Member States to support older people along all of the above-mentioned dimensions. These include measures to support independent living and schemes to support the labour market integration of older people or to prevent unemployment, all of which play a role in the quality of life of older citizens.
9 May 2021
Living, working and COVID-19 (Update April 2021): Mental health and trust decline across EU as pandemic enters another year
The third round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded in February and March 2021, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe following nearly a full year of living with COVID-19 restrictions. This report analyses the main findings and tracks ongoing developments and trends across the 27 EU Member States since the survey was first launched in April 2020. It pinpoints issues that have surfaced over the course of the pandemic, such as increased job insecurity due to the threat of job loss, decline in mental well-being levels, erosion of recent gains in gender equality, fall in trust levels vis-à-vis institutions, deterioration of work–life balance and growth of vaccine hesitancy. The results of the survey highlight the need for a holistic approach to support all the groups hit hard by the crisis in order to prevent them from falling further behind.
27 September 2020
Living, working and COVID-19
This report presents the findings of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, carried out by Eurofound to capture the far-reaching implications of the pandemic for the way people live and work across Europe. The survey was fielded online, among respondents who were reached via Eurofound’s stakeholders and social media advertising. Two rounds of the e-survey have been carried out to date: one in April, when most Member States were in lockdown, and one in July, when society and economies were slowly re-opening.
The findings of the e-survey from the first round reflected widespread emotional distress, financial concern and low levels of trust in institutions. Levels of concern abated somewhat in the second round, particularly among groups of respondents who were benefiting from support measures implemented during the pandemic. At the same time, the results underline stark differences between countries and between socioeconomic groups that point to growing inequalities.
The results confirm the upsurge in teleworking across all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic that has been documented elsewhere, and the report explores what this means for work–life balance and elements of job quality.
11 March 2021
COVID-19: Implications for employment and working life
Disclaimer - Please note that this report was updated with revised data (specifically for Bulgaria) on 23 March 2021.
This report sets out to assess the initial impact of the COVID-19 crisis on employment in Europe (up to Q2 2020), including its effects across sectors and on different categories of workers. It also looks at measures implemented by policymakers in a bid to limit the negative effects of the crisis. It first provides an overview of policy approaches adopted to mitigate the impact of the crisis on businesses, workers and citizens. The main focus is on the development, content and impact of short-time working schemes, income support measures for self-employed people, hardship funds and rent and mortgage deferrals. Finally, it explores the involvement of social partners in the development and implementation of such measures and the role of European funding in supporting these schemes.
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Daphne Ahrendt
Senior research managerDaphne Ahrendt is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She is the coordinator of the survey management and development activity. In 2020, she initiated Eurofound’s Living and Working in the EU e-survey and now leads the 2026 European Quality of Life Survey, which she has worked on since the survey started in 2003. With over 30 years of experience in international survey research, she is also a member of the GESIS Scientific Advisory Board. Beyond surveys, her substantive research focuses on social cohesion, trust and the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Daphne started her career at the National Centre for Social Research in London where she worked on the International Social Survey Programme before moving to the Eurobarometer Unit at the European Commission. She holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice Policies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University.
Eszter Sándor
Senior research managerEszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She has extensive experience in survey management, including questionnaire design and scripting, data preparation (processing, cleaning, weighting), and statistical analysis using R. She manages Eurofound’s e-survey (Living and working in the EU) and contributes to the preparation and management of the European Quality of Life Survey. Her research focuses on the quality of life of young people and families, including subjective well-being, mental well-being and living conditions.
Before joining Eurofound, she worked as an economic consultant in Scotland, specialising in economic impact assessments, evaluations, and input-output analysis. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics and Business and a Master’s degree in Economics and International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest.
This section provides access to all content that has been published on the topic.
