COVID-19 provokes a surge in unemployment benefit claims in the UK, with claimants encountering a system that is “cruel, inhumane and degrading” and the “second harshest in the world”
The unprecedented, rapid levels of global unemployment resulting from COVID-19 and the lockdown restrictions saw huge pressures put on social protection systems worldwide. In the UK, claimants for the Universal Credit benefit reached record levels during the lockdown months of April and May.
Does your social benefit system encourage informal employment?
Social policy specialist, Chad Anderson, talks about his experiences of the impacts of social policy choices have on the informal sector.