Specifications 2020-DGSTRAT-Study Covivat (COVIVAT)

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis. The set of policy measures taken to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of infections ('lockdown') caused an unprecedented economic slowdown. There is every reason to believe that the impact on incomes and living standards is equally unprecedented. Poverty is likely to increase. Yet it is unclear which households are affected most by the economic shock. In Belgium policy measures such as short-term employment schemes were quickly deployed to prevent income and job loss. It is unknown to what extent these measures actually support those most in need. Existing survey data is outdated and large-scale administrative data sources are not readily available to allow for timely monitoring of the social consequences of exit-strategies, or to support COVID-19 decision making. This information gap needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency since any successful exit strategy critically relies on it. It is essential to ensure that the measures are viable for the most vulnerable.This project is a collaboration of three research groups that are internationally renowned for their work on microsimulation, policy evaluation, and poverty. They have a longstanding history of successful collaboration and will form a research consortium for the present purpose.i)Real-time monitoring of income and poverty statistics using nowcasting.ii)Assessment of social and economic measures, using EUROMOD.iii)Assessment of the socio-economic impact of macro-economic scenario's and exit strategies.iv)Disclosing administrative databases for COVID-19 monitoring.