In-Work Poverty in Times of COVID-19

The corona crisis has an unequal impact on worker’s income. Workers with unstable jobs prior to the crisis, have been affected hardest due to the loss of work and income (Börner, 2020). An example is the group of workers who cannot make ends meet, despite having a job. In order to explore the impact of the coronavirus crisis on in-work poverty, it is relevant to get a better insight into how low income is defined because in the Netherlands low income and poverty are calculated in various ways. For this chapter we use two indicators (Statistics Netherlands, 2018; SCP, 2018). The first is the poverty threshold, indicating whether or not the income is sufficient to meet basic needs such as buying food, housing, and participating in social activities. The second is the low-income threshold, representing stable purchasing power over time.