8
June
2022

Social rights and equality in the light of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

This focus looks at the impact of the pandemic on social rights. It examines the measures in national recovery and resilience plans that address the social vulnerabilities among a variety of population groups in the EU, including women, children and young people in situations of vulnerability, people with disabilities, older people, Roma and people in precarious working conditions.
Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp relief the extent to which people in the EU must contend with social vulnerabilities in their daily lives. What started as a global health crisis soon morphed into a global social crisis affecting everyone in the European Union.

The pandemic has thus given a new impetus to the EU’s commitment to social rights, rooted in its legal order. Through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU made € 723.8 billion available to Member States to address the social damage the pandemic caused.