scholarly journals Income loss among the self-employed: implications for individual wellbeing and pandemic policy measures

Author(s):  
Stefan Schneck

AbstractDue to the pandemic-induced economic crisis, self-employed individuals are currently suffering considerable income losses. The self-employed and the members in their households usually form an economic unit. As a consequence, the income cuts not only affect the self-employed themselves but also the rest of their household. We used the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to calculate how much income the self-employed are able to sacrifice to achieve a subjective barely sufficient household income, which we interpret as the minimum level to maintain the standard of living. Our results suggest that full-time self-employed are typically the bread-earners in their households and that, as a consequence, even moderate income losses of the self-employed often lead to problems in maintaining the living standards of their households. Conditional on individual and household characteristics, the self-employed with employees are found to live in households that are less resilient to income losses. Furthermore, a negative correlation between falling short of the barely adequate household income and wellbeing was discovered. Self-employed in households with less than adequate incomes also reported higher concerns about social cohesion. These results have implications for policy - especially in light of the economic crisis induced by the pandemic.

Author(s):  
Gerhard Bosch ◽  
Thorsten Kalina

This chapter describes how inequality and real incomes have evolved in Germany through the period from the 1980s, through reunification, up to the economic Crisis and its aftermath. It brings out how reunification was associated with a prolonged stagnation in real wages. It emphasizes how the distinctive German structures for wage bargaining were eroded over time, and the labour market and tax/transfer reforms of the late 1990s-early/mid-2000s led to increasing dualization in the labour market. The consequence was a marked increase in household income inequality, which went together with wage stagnation for much of the 1990s and subsequently. Coordination between government, employers, and unions still sufficed to avoid the impact the economic Crisis had on unemployment elsewhere, but the German social model has been altered fundamentally over the period


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 810-828
Author(s):  
Tat'yana I. GULYAEVA ◽  
Elena V. TAKMAKOVA

Subject. We consider the distribution of Russian regions by the standard of living of the population. Objectives. The study aims at clustering the subjects of the Russian Federation by standard of living indicator, and describing the specifics of the clusters. Methods. We apply the cluster analysis with the help of the STATISTICA 12 software package. The clustering of Russian regions by selected indicator of living standards rests on the k-means clustering method. Results. The study identifies five clusters of regions, i.e. those with low, below-average, medium, above-average, and high living standards. The clustering is based on certain indicators of living standards, like per capita monetary income, nominal average monthly wage, average size of pension awarded, minimum wage, life expectancy at birth, the Gini coefficient, consumption expenditure per household member on average, the share of expenditures on food in the structure of consumer expenditure, and others. Conclusions. Based on the cluster analysis of living standards of Russian regions, we identify five clusters, to which it is appropriate to apply a differentiated State policy for regulating the household income.


2009 ◽  
pp. 54-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Shastitko ◽  
S. Avdasheva ◽  
S. Golovanova

The analysis of competition policy under economic crisis is motivated by the fact that competition is a key factor for the level of productivity. The latter, in its turn, influences the scope and length of economic recession. In many Russian markets buyers' gains decline because of the weakness of competition, since suppliers are reluctant to cut prices in spite of the decreasing demand. Data on prices in Russia and abroad in the second half of 2008 show asymmetric price rigidity. At least two questions are important under economic crisis: the 'division of labor' between pro-active and protective tools of competition policy and the impact of anti-crisis policy on competition. Protective competition policy is insufficient in transition economy, especially in the days of crisis it should be supplemented with the well-designed industrial policy measures which do not contradict the goals of competition. The preferable tools of anti-crisis policy are also those that do not restrain competition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.M. Sadykov

Subject. This article deals with the issues of social justice and a high quality of life, creating favorable economic and social conditions. Objectives. The article aims to assess the rate and changes in poverty in Russia and the Republic of Bashkortostan and develop complementary measures to reduce it. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of logical, comparative, economic and statistical analyses, the results of sociological studies, and official statistics. Results. The article highlights additional measures to reduce poverty in the region, including the establishment of a minimum social standard of living in each particular region that determines the poverty rate. Conclusions. Various factors, such as economic sanctions, economic slowdowns, territorial and regional imbalances, lead to living standards decline and poverty rise.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-137
Author(s):  
Mustaqim Makki

Zakat merupakan salah satu sendi pokok ajaran Islam. Urgensi zakat yang merupakan anjuran agama Islam untuk menunaikan zakat dan memberikannya kepada yang berhak dengan ketentuan mencapai nishabnya, (kadar minimum harta tertentu) mempunyai nilai sangat signifikan dalam kehidupan manusia. Seorang insan yang sarat akan segala permasalahan pada fitrahnya menuntut untuk selalu berinteraksi kepada sesama, baik berupa materi maupun non materi. Zakat merupakan maliyah ijtima’iyyah yang mengandung nilai-nilai filantropi yang sangat tinggi, karena ketika mengaplikasikan kewajiban zakat kita telah membantu sesama serta mengurangi kesenjangan yang disebabkan beberapa sifat manusia diantaranya adalah sifat kikir, dengki dan iri hati. Menguatnya kembali harapan banyak kalangan terhadap implementasi filantropi Islam, baik dalam bentuk zakat, infak, sedekah, dan wakaf, memiliki keterkaitan erat dengan kondisi bangsa yang belum sepenuhnya bangkit dari keterpurukan sebagai dampak dari krisis ekonomi yang berkepanjangan. Kondisi ini berakibat kesenjangan penguasaan perekonomian antar warga negara menjadi kian lebar. Pada saat itulah, ziswaf (zakat, infak, sedekah, dan wakaf) kembali dilirik dan diharapkan menjadi alternatif solusi terhadap problem kemiskinan umat. Manusia sebagai khalifah fil ardh dalam Al Qurán menekankan muatan fungsional yang harus diemban oleh manusia dalam melaksanakan tugas-tugas kesejarahan dalam kehidupannya di muka bumi. Kaitan dengan konsep tersebut, ada dua fungsi manusia. Pertama: Manusia sebagai hamba (ábid), dituntut untuk sukses menjalin hubungan secara vertikal dalam hal ini hubungannya dengan ketuhanan (Teologis). Kedua adalah manusia sebagai khalifah, dituntut untuk sukses menjalin hubungan secara horizontal dalam hal ini hubungan terhadap manusia.Kata kunci: tafsir ayat zakat, filantropi, ekonomi keummatanAbstract:Zakat is one of the main points of Islamic teachings. The urgency of zakat which is suggested by Islam to fulfill and give it to those who are referred to with the provisions to reach their nishab, (minimum level of certain assets) has a very significant value in human life. A person who is full of all problems in his/her natural demands will always get interaction with other people, either material or non-material. Zakat is maliyah ijtima’iyyah which contains very high philanthropic values, because when applying the obligation of zakat we have helped others and reduced the gaps caused by some human traits including miser, jealousy and envy. The reinforcement of the expectations (estimation) from any levels on the implementation of Islamic philanthropy, which in the form of zakat, donation, alms and endowments, has a close relationship with the condition of the country that has not fully risen from bad economic adversity due to economic crisis. This condition causes a widening of the economic mastery among the citizens. At that moment, ziswaf (zakat, infaq, alms, and waqf) was again given a serious attentition and expected to be an alternative solution to the problem of poverty among citizens. Humans as khalifah fil ardh in the Qur'an emphasize the functional content that must be carried by humans in carrying out historical tasks in their lives on earth. In accordance with this concept, there are two human functions. First: Humans as servants (ábid), are required to succeed in establishing a vertical relationship in this case the relationship with God (Theological). Second, humans as caliphs, are required to succeed in establishing horizontal relationships in this case the relationship to humans.


Author(s):  
Claudio Robles-Ortiz ◽  
Ignacio González-Correa ◽  
Nora Reyes Campos ◽  
Uziel González Aliaga

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to determine trends in the wages and living standards of male agricultural labourers in Central Chile during the agrarian expansion, c. 1870-1930. We found that nominal wages increased eightfold; this is relevant because wage labour became the main rural labour regime in this period. Nominal wages rose steadily from the early 1870s until 1910, and with significant fluctuations thereafter, before plummeting with the Great Depression. Real wages also increased, but only slightly. Furthermore, during certain short periods, agricultural labourers' real wages were similar to or higher than those of low-skilled urban workers. However, the persistent gap between agricultural and non-agricultural wages was one of the causal factors of the outmigration of rural workers.


Author(s):  
Vanda Almeida ◽  
Salvador Barrios ◽  
Michael Christl ◽  
Silvia De Poli ◽  
Alberto Tumino ◽  
...  

AbstractThis analysis makes use of economic forecasts for 2020 issued by the European Commission in Autumn 2019 and Spring 2020, and of a counterfactual under a no-policy change assumption, to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on EU households´ income. Additionally, our analysis assesses the cushioning effect of discretionary fiscal policy measures taken by the EU Member States. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to affect significantly households’ disposable income in the EU, with lower income households being more severely hit. However, our results show that due to policy intervention, the impact of the crisis is expected to be similar to the one experienced during the 2008–2009 financial crisis. In detail, our results indicate that discretionary fiscal policy measures will play a significant cushioning role, reducing the size of the income loss (from −9.3% to −4.3% for the average equivalised disposable income), its regressivity and mitigating the poverty impact of the pandemic. We conclude that policy interventions are therefore instrumental in cushioning against the impact of the crisis on inequality and poverty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 78-78
Author(s):  
Yalu Zhang ◽  
Ada Mui

Abstract Growing attention has been focused on how to improve the affordability and accessibility of healthcare services, especially for elders (aged 55 and above) who have higher levels of medical needs. Following the standard of living approach, which assumes that people’s standard of living would be negatively affected if additional needs (i.e., healthcare) arise at a given level of household income, this secondary research examines elders’ extra health and health-related costs of having chronic diseases and disabilities in rural (n=5,509) and urban (n=3,225) areas of China. Bivariate analyses show there were no significant differences between rural and urban groups in terms of the prevalence of having one or more chronic diseases (56% vs. 58%) and at least one type of disability (15% vs. 13%). Multivariate analyses indicate that living with chronic diseases incurred more extra costs for rural elders than their urban peers, after controlling for individual and household characteristics. On average, rural elders who had at least three chronic medical conditions would spend 108.3% more on medical services than those who had no chronic disease; elders with at least two types of disabilities would spend 59.8% more than those with no disability. The extra health-related costs were boosted when people had at least one type of disability (63.6%), but this was not the case for those who had chronic diseases. Statistical significance was not found among urban elders in China regarding both health and health-related expenditures. The results suggest that rural elders need support to manage their chronic health conditions.


Author(s):  
Ljupcho Stevkovski

It is a fact that in the European Union there is a strengthening of right-wing extremism, radical right movement, populism and nationalism. The consequences of the economic crisis, such as a decline in living standards, losing of jobs, rising unemployment especially among young people, undoubtedly goes in favor of strengthening the right-wing extremism. In the research, forms of manifestation will be covered of this dangerous phenomenon and response of the institutions. Western Balkan countries, as a result of right-wing extremism, are especially sensitive region on possible consequences that might occur, since there are several unresolved political problems, which can very easily turn into a new cycle of conflicts, if European integration processes get delayed indefinitely.


Author(s):  
Egor Vladimirovich Eroshin ◽  
◽  
Irina Vyacheslavovna Bogatyreva ◽  

The article considers the indicator of the standard of living of the population as an indicator of the economic characteristics of the quality of life of people, which is a complex socio-economic category. The authors of the article examined various methods for its determination and presented an analysis of the standard of living of the population of the Samara region


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