Pandemic shows contrasts between U.S., European safety nets.
The White House is stepping up its own safety measures after the vice president’s press secretary tested positive for COVID-19.pandemic is straining social safety nets across the globe — and underlining sharp differences in approach between wealthy societies such as the United States and Europe.
Economist Andre Sapir, a senior fellow at the Bruegel research institute in Brussels, said budget policy in the U.S. plays partly the role that Europe's welfare system plays because the American welfare system is less generous and a recession can be much harsher on workers. The U.S. tends to rank below average on measures of social support among the 37 countries of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, whose members are mostly developed democracies. The U.S. came last in people living in relative poverty, meaning living on half the median income or less, with 17.8%. Countries like Iceland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Finland have less than 6%.
The U.S. emergency package included money for cheap loans to businesses that can be forgiven if the money is used mostly for payroll.Nearly half of Americans receive health insurance through their employers, while another 34% get benefits through the government programs Medicare and Medicaid. Separately, 6% are insured individually and 9% in 2018 had no insurance at all.
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