Fixing a Leaky U.S. Social Safety Net: Diapers, Policy, and Low-Income Families

Changing work, family, and policy trends converged to increase diaper need in recent decades. Safety net programs do not cover diapers, and diaper policy proposals have met limited success. Based on interviews with seventy mothers who experienced diaper need, this article examines how diapers shape low-income parents' caregiving and why income and public aid are not always enough to cover diapers. Mothers described stigma associated with lacking diapers and mixed experiences seeking diaper support. These experiences suggest effective policy responses, including diaper vouchers and extending changes to tax credit policies.

The productivity impact of short-term labor mobility across industries

The restrictions on labor mobility imposed in the COVID-19 pandemic heighten the need to review in detail the role of mobility in improving productivity and fostering economic growth. In this study, we carry out a comprehensive analysis of business visits (BVs) understood as a productivity-enhancing intrapreneurial strategy, using the most extensive set of data available, covering 33 sectors and 14 countries during the period 1998–2013. Our database merges unique information on expenditures on BVs by sector, country, and year, sourced from the US National Business Travel Association, with OECD and World Bank productivity data. We find that BVs raise labor productivity in a significant way, but short-term labor mobility exhibits decreasing returns, being more crucial in those firms, sectors, and countries characterized by less mobility and by lower productivity performances.Plain English SummaryCOVID-19 has imposed restrictions on labor mobility and this turns out to be relevant for productivity and economic growth. Business visits (BVs) are a proper proxy (unique information is taken from the US National Business Travel Association) to measure short-term mobility. Sectoral data in 14 countries over the period 1998–2013 are used. Results do reveal that BVs have a positive impact on labor productivity. However, this effect is more relevant in those sectors and economies at a lower stage of productivity evolution, i.e., the lower the initial productivity level, the larger the effect of BVs on productivity. Therefore, BVs play a relevant role in sectors and countries lagging behind in terms of productivity. Policy makers should foster, in the post-pandemic recovery, short-term labor mobility through adequate incentives and tax exemptions, particularly in those sectors where BVs are less frequent and where productivity growth is below the average.

Tax Exemptions of Cooperatives in the Philippines and in Other Countries: A Comparative Study

In the Philippines, Undersecretary Orlando R. Ravanera, Chairman of the Cooperative Development Authority, declared that since the founding of the Rochdale Cooperative in England in 1884, different countries have adopted this cooperative form of organization that has resulted in significant economic gains and social development. Findings in this research could offer policy makers, especially those in the Philippine Congress, insights on the importance of cooperatives as partners in community and nation-building by different governments across the globe. [...]to appreciate the role of cooperatives to the Philippine economy, especially during this COVID 19 pandemic, the two provisions in the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008 that provide for the tax exemption and tax treatment of cooperatives are hopefully not repealed. 2. [...]some countries allow agricultural cooperatives to enjoy tax exemptions and tax holidays so that these organizations can continue their role in addressing poverty, securing food production and boost economic growth (Kireyeva, 2016) as a whole. The cooperatives' not-for-profit nature is a justification for tax advantages in some countries, however in Western agri-food systems agricultural cooperatives face the challenge of inevitably competing with investor-owned businesses where they are at a bind between raising capital and conserving their basic governance (Tortia, Valentinov and Iliopoulos, 2013).

A Guaranteed Basic Income for Canadians: Off the Table or Within Reach?

Pilot projects in the past that have experimented with a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) in Manitoba and Ontario, and a recent study of the feasibility of a GBI in British Columbia, indicate that provinces are not in an ideal position to successfully implement an affordable and effective GBI. However, a GBI implemented by the federal government, financed by eliminating the GST credit and lowering personal tax exemptions, could be both effective and affordable. It could also do so without requiring the elimination of those provincial social assistance programs that are more deeply targeted toward people’s needs. By using its revenue powers, the federal government could create more fiscal capacity for the provinces to provide other cash and in-kind social supports, allowing for greater provincial benefit targeting. The federal government’s centrality in designing and implementing tax structures and collecting tax revenue make it singularly suitable for administering and delivering a GBI. Financing the GBI by eliminating the modest GST credit and lowering the current basic personal income tax exemption could provide a significant reduction in the rate, depth and intensity of poverty in Canada, without imposing an excessive tax burden on Canadians. If provinces use the GBI as a replacement for certain less-targeted provincial social assistance income transfers, the freed-up payments and reduced caseloads could also allow provinces to target more effectively those needs not addressed by the GBI. The recent COVID-19 pandemic exposed longstanding gaps in Canada’s income- support frameworks, with lower-income workers facing exceptional economic vulnerability. At the same time, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit proved edifying in terms of how to best design a basic-income program. In addition, the federal government’s experiences with the poverty-reducing impacts of the Canada Child Benefit, the Old Age Supplement and the Guaranteed Income Supplement have moved Canada closer than ever to a workable GBI. While it comes with additional costs, those costs will be less burdensome than many GBI skeptics might believe. They must also be put into perspective, by comparing them against the costs of current and, in many cases ineffective income transfers and, just as importantly, against the human cost of leaving more Canadians living in poverty.

EXEMPTIONS FROM PAYING VALUE ADDED TAX FOR MEDICAL SERVICES RELATED TO COVID–19

In the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens' health is among the key goals of every government and as a public good must be ensured through an accessible, functional, and effective public health system. Taxation policy measures give taxation benefits for health services provided related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, Council Directive (EU) 2021/1159 of 13 July 2021 amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards temporary exemptions on importations and on certain supplies was brought in in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (OJ L 250, 15. 7. 2021.). In this paper, the stated Directive (which is being applied in the Republic of Croatia) will be analysed from a legal perspective, as well as other legislative taxation measures undertaken at European Union related to the COVID-19 disease. Also, cases of the illegal use of VAT taxation exemptions (fraud) related to providing medical services for COVID-19 because the fact should not be overlooked that, according to European Commission Reports, member states have recorded losses in VAT taxation revenue estimated at 140 042 billions of Euros representing a total revenue loss of 11% at European Union level.

Does Service Provider Matter During a Pandemic? COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Among Nonprofit vs. For-Profit Assisted Living Facilities in Florida

When COVID-19 hit the U.S. in early 2020, individuals aged 65+ were identified as a higher risk population. In Florida, Governor DeSantis issued Emergency Order 20-006 to prohibit visitation to facilities housing groups of high-risk people, including assisted living facilities (ALFs). Regardless, 672 ALFs of the 3,019 in Florida had reported at least one positive case of COVID-19 by a resident or staff member as of June 30, 2020. Prior research has highlighted the differences in service delivery between nonprofit and for-profit health care providers. This manuscript fills the void of minimal research on quality of care differences among ALFs based on ownership status. We find that nonprofit ALFs have experienced fewer positive cases of COVID-19 among their residents, but less evidence of a difference between nonprofit and for-profit ALFs in terms of resident deaths. We also find evidence that the type of nursing services matters for protecting ALF residents from COVID-19.