Can Times of Crisis Strengthen ‘Blind Spots’ in Social Provision?
Re-evaluating the relationship between informal workers and the state in Colombia in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
22 February 2022
This cross-disciplinary project, involving the Institute of Americas and Institute of Global Health, conducted a survey in Colombia through Facebook to explore the relationship between informal workers and the state in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The surveyaskedparticipants for their views on ahypothetical social security system and its financing. The team obtained a sample of close to 900 participants, with responses regarding their tax attitudes, how theywere impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and their social spending preferences. The project team presented themethodology at the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics 2021 Conference and are currently in theprocess of analysing this data to provide a comprehensive picture of the appetite for social spendingreform following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the project team are in the process of sharingtheir knowledge in remote data collection with colleagues in their respective departments, which is much needed when travel restrictions are changing the way research can be conducted.The project has alsoestablished some contact with Colombian policymakers, who have expressed interestin the resultsof research paper oncepublished. The project team hope that this may help fiscal policy decision-making in Colombia.