What awaits Lithuania after quarantine: some benefits will gradually disappear

Eglė Samoškaitė, Advisor to the Minister of Social Security and Labor for Public Relations, told more about the benefits received by people who are now in downtime and what benefits they will lose when the quarantine ends.

“In fact, there will be no benefits ending on the day quarantine ends. Suppose some of the workers are now or have been on downtime, so employers have received subsidies for their wages. Even after the end of the quarantine or when an employee returns from downtime, even now, the employer can apply for and receive a subsidy from the same employee equally for the next six months. I mean some companies are already resuming their activities and it is possible to continue with those subsidies now, and they will be able to continue after quarantine. For example, if we talk about inability to work due to childcare, it has something to do with quarantine and specifically the fact that kindergartens and schools have not worked and they are now allowed to operate, but not all schools have opened.

But if all educational institutions were put into operation, parents would no longer have to be at home with their children, they could work. Employers are already saying they are waiting for employees. Unemployed people have always been able to claim unemployment benefit for nine months, but another new temporary benefit has been introduced for job applicants, it is very relevant for people who are not entitled to social security benefits, they have not accumulated seniority Then they could receive a temporary job search allowance of around two hundred euros, ”says E. Samoškaitė.

I don’t think there are any more unemployed.

Economist Sigismund Mauricas says on the show that most of those who now have downtime are likely to return to work after quarantine and return to being full-fledged workers.

“In part, this is a race against time, in which other countries of the European Union are also participating, applying with enough intensity both the compensation for downtime and liquidity measures.” The hope is that most people who are currently on downtime will have a certificate of incapacity for work, will return to their jobs as the economic situation improves, and will not join the ranks of the unemployed. Because there are two ways to return from downtime, one way to go back to work and be a full-time employee, the other is to become unemployed.

Everyone would like people to take the first path, the second, unfortunately, to increase unemployment and deepen the economic crisis, as well as increase the burden on the social security system, as well as the risk of poverty. To give us a general idea, the number of unemployed has not increased as much, “says the economist.

The issue of benefits is also highly relevant to those whose children are not currently attending kindergarten. It is true that at this time children can already go to educational institutions, of course, not all.

“On the one hand, not all kindergartens are completely open because they have older workers, for example, they are afraid to start working themselves, they want to continue working remotely, so I couldn’t say that all parents can get married with children, especially those who used to get married. Of course, not all places are occupied as parents consider it, they are probably scared right now, maybe they live with their grandparents or just for the sake of holy peace as long as there is an opportunity not to let their children enter kindergarten. We do not count how many cases there will be, but when the quarantine ends, the possibility will end, “says the interlocutor.

Mauritius: such support is appropriate

When asked how much the entire quarantine can cost Lithuania, the Public Relations Advisor to the Minister of Social Security and Labor named the figures already submitted by Sodra a little earlier.

Sodra has estimated that a day of quarantine seems to cost me around two million euros if those numbers have not changed; they should probably remain similar, ”added E. Samoškaitė.

When asked if the benefits would discourage people from returning to work, the economist said such support was appropriate at this time.

“If the measure is temporary, I don’t think the impact will be very great, or even the opposite, it will reduce the need to emigrate, because we must realize that the economy has suffered a certain shock, some sectors, for example, leisure, tourism, at least at a level close to the pre-crisis. Therefore, such support is convenient, because some people simply will not be able to find a job, “says Ž Mauricas

Hopeful predictions

When asked what awaits Lithuania and all of Europe in the future, the economist Ž. Maurice replied that the predictions at this time, in the absence of a second wave of coronaviruses, seem quite hopeful.

“Admittedly, the forecasts are improving, a slightly worse situation was expected, especially on the health care front, I am not only talking about Lithuania, but also the entire EU, Europe is getting along quite well.” By the way, after the opening of the economy and the movement of the service sector, the economic contraction is likely to be less than expected, in the case of Lithuania, this contraction is likely to be assessed using a single digit number .

If the predictions come true, we will have quite solid economic growth next year, so the recession will be more U-shaped, but more V-shaped. This gives hope that hopefully there will be no new waves in the fall. Most of the people who are depressed will not become unemployed and the unemployment rate will increase to a lower level than in 2009. In fact, inspiring news, because the probability of the worst case scenario we have predicted is decreasing, “says Ž. Mauricas