Outreach

Outreach

Selected Policy Reports

• A Vulnerable Workforce: Migrant Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic, (2020) European Commission, JRC - EUR 30225.
  (joint with Francesco Fasani).
  Media Coverage: OpenMigration

  Abstract

  This report analyses the labour conditions of migrant workers in the EU in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. By looking at the prevalence of temporary contracts, the position in the income distribution and the likelihood that jobs can be conducted from home for both key and non-key migrant workers, it highlights the potential and distinct vulnerabilities for these two groups. Foreign born workers - especially Extra-EU migrants - are at a disadvantage in all three dimensions: they are more likely to be in temporary employment, earn lower wages and have jobs that are less amenable to teleworking. The report concludes by identifying possible areas of policy intervention to address these vulnerabilities.

• Immigrant Key Workers: Their Contribution to Europe’s COVID-19 Response
  (joint with Francesco Fasani).
  Working paper version: IZA; JRC.
  Media Coverage: OpenMigration; La Libre (in French); The Guardian; Corriere Della Sera (in Italian); Brookings.edu; European Business Review; fanpage.it (in Italian); Newsweek.
  Data

  Abstract

  This note describes the contribution of migrant workers to the ongoing effort to keep basic services running in the Union during the COVID-19 epidemic. We quantify the prevalence of migrant workers in the so called "key professions" that the Commission and Member States have identified using the most recent wave of the EU Labour Force Survey. Our results show that migrant "key workers" are essential for critical functions in European societies.

• The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets, (2020), JRC Working Papers, JRC121071.
  (joint with Giorgio Di Pietro, Federico Biagi, Patricia Costa and Zbigniew Karpinski)

  Abstract

  In order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, most countries around the world have decided to temporarily close educational institutions. However, learning has not stopped but is now fully taking place online as schools and universities provide remote schooling. Using existing literature and evidence from recent international data (Eurostat, PISA, ICILS, PIRLS, TALIS), this report attempts to gain a better understanding of how the COVID-19 crisis may affect students' learning. It looks at the different direct and indirect ways through which the virus and the measures adopted to contain it may impact children's achievement. Very conservative estimates for a few selected EU countries consistently indicate that, on average, students will suffer a learning loss. It is also suggested that COVID-19 will not affect students equally, will influence negatively both cognitive and non-cognitive skills acquisition, and may have important long-term consequences in addition to the short-term ones.

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Columns and Blogs

• Essential yet vulnerable, IZA World of Labor, 04/2024.
  (joint with Francesco Fasani).

• The benefits of starting college in a recession, LSE Business Review, 10/2021.
  (joint with Alena Bicáková, Matias Cortes).

• COVID-19 and migrant workers’ employment prospects in Europe, VoxEU, 01/2021.
  (joint with Francesco Fasani).