The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP): Trends and Sectoral Impacts

A new research paper has been published by the UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy which evaluates the general take-up of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), its take-up by different groups, the length of claims, and exits. The PUP is a social welfare payment for employees and self-employed people who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Weekly payments between €300 and €350 were made available to workers who were laid-off on or after March 13^th, 2020, due to the pandemic.

Results show that one year after its creation, by March 2021, over 800,000 people had received payments under the scheme. This had a cost to the exchequer of over €7.3 billion. As expected, the take up of the PUP grew in waves. These waves of growth reflect the periods when the public health restrictions were at their strictest.

Job losses since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been concentrated in three sectors: the accommodation and food sector; the retail and wholesale sector; and the construction sector. Most jobs were lost in the accommodation and food sector and by the last week of March 2020, 110,559 people working in this sector had claimed the PUP. In the same period, 75,828 people working in the retail and wholesale sector and 48,999 people working in the construction sector claimed the benefit. By the end of April 2021, those three sectors accounted for approximately 40% of total claims. The education sector was considered to be moderately affected. It is worth remembering that earlier this year, the Minister for Social Protection, Ms. Heather Humphreys, revealed that 3,200 ELC/SAC workers received PUP on 12^th January 2021.

In the economic sectors most vulnerable to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, jobs were disproportionately held by female, low-skilled workers who were under 35 years old and on part-time arrangements. Results also show that, the number of claimants on the PUP for long periods remained largely consistent.

The authors highlight that the PUP will be closed to new applicants from 1 July 2021, as part of the plans to phase out the Payment. The government intends to reduce the PUP rate by €50 from September 2021 to bring the benefit in line with pre-pandemic payment levels, which was generally €203 per week for regular unemployment payments. Social justice advocates have called for an income adequacy for those in receipt of welfare, including a review of increased social welfare rates in the 2022 Budget.