Evaluation of the Last Social Safety Net and the Interaction with the First Social Safety Net, with Special Reference to the Current COVID-19 Crisis and the Impact of the Basic Social Assistance Act

In the research project, the poverty resistance of the last social safety net in Austria is analysed in more detail. On the one hand, we examine longer-term trends in market incomes as a determinant of poverty and poverty risk. On the other hand, the specific situation in the crisis year 2020 is examined in more detail and it is investigated whether and for whom the COVID-19 crisis instruments have changed the economic situation of those at risk of poverty. Both quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches are chosen to address the question of poverty before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus to shed light on the poverty-proofness of the second social safety net. Based on these empirical findings, future potentials of the second social safety net will be developed in cooperation with non-profit organisations, decision-makers and experts.