Income loss has impacted many during the pandemic. Globally it fell US$3.5 trillion in the first nine months of 2020, a change of –10.7% compared with the same period in 2019. Unemployment, reduced hours, office closures and business shutdowns have prompted the need for mass income support. Governments’ support globally has varied significantly.
Some critics have used this as an opportunity to call for universal basic income (UBI). For example, a three-year study is already being implemented in Germany to test how effective this kind of income support would be in the post-pandemic period.
