Some Member States specified that such support only applies to parents of children under a certain age, ranging from under 16 in France, as described by the country’s Minister of Labour in a recent interview,53 for example, to under 11 in Slovakia.54 1.3 DISRUPTION TO WORK According to data compiled by Eurofound, the huge consequences of the outbreak on employment are already being felt. Data – for example from Austria,55 Belgium,56 Ireland57 and 58 Latvia – indicate large-scale lay-offs linked to COVID-19, with the hospitality and tourism sectors among those particularly affected. Most Member States have required or recommended people to work from home wherever possible; however, this is not an option for many, often lower-paid, areas of work. Restrictions on work may pose particular challenges to those who are particularly vulnerable to the reductions in income prompted by redundancies. These include women,59 single parent families, migrant workers, those in less secure employment such as the so-called ‘gig workers’ or certain of the self-employed,60 and anyone living in, or at risk of, poverty61. This will in turn have an impact on children living in these households. 1.3.1 Mitigating the impact on workers and families The International Labour Organization (ILO) published a note on measures governments could take to protect and support workers and the economy in light of COVID-19.62 Most Member States have put in place wide-ranging economic support measures in line with the ILO’s recommendations to mitigate the impact on workers and their families. These include: — Supplementing wages — Other financial support, including relief for home owners and renters — Support for the self-employed — Support for particular groups in society — Support for people with caring responsibilities — Sick leave and support for people in quarantine A large majority of EU Member States have introduced legislation to compensate for loss of income related to the outbreak. In many cases, this takes the form of the government committing to paying a proportion of the wages of employees that have been or are at risk of being made redundant. Such measures – which also often involve contributions from the employer – will see staff receive 90% of their salary in Sweden,63 80% in Slovenia,64 75% in Romania,65 70% in Estonia66 and France,67 and 65-70% in Belgium,68 for example. Greece, in contrast, proposes a fixed sum compensation of €800 in April to employees working in enterprises which suspend their operations;69 a Maltese or any other EU citizen who becomes redundant in Malta will receive the same monthly amount as unemployment benefit.70 Ireland has instituted a specific ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment’ of €203 per week, which aims to enable the newly unemployed to receive financial support quickly, while waiting for the government to calculate their longer-term entitlement.71 19