Protecting the vulnerable? Social and labour market protection for mobile populations in pandemic times

The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been followed by an economic and social crisis of extraordinary dimension. The IMF expects that 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year. This is having and will have dramatic consequences for mobile populations. Migrants often have precarious labour conditions and irregular situations that placed them the first on the list to suffer job loss without any type of compensation. Most welfare regimes require residence rights and labour market contracts to access to social and labour protection measures. Besides, in times of financial strain, welfare chauvinist attitudes are likely to be reinforced. How are governments protecting mobile populations during (and after) the COVID-19 pandemic? Are they taking exceptional measures? Can we observe public opinion shifts regarding welfare deservingness? This paper addresses these questions by investigating the welfare-migration nexus in times of (and post) COVID-19 pandemic. The objective is to analyse which policy measures have (or not) been put in place by governments to alleviate the situation of mobile populations.