Building in the needs of women, self-employed and students in our COVID-19 recovery offers an opportunity to “build back better”.

Addressing demographic change and incorporating demographic analysis into policies are key to building a fairer, more resilient society.

This is particularly important in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected different demographic groups differently.

It is also important for democracy.

A new report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) shows that when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in 2020, the support for national governments initially rose in several European countries.

Then, as the pandemic dragged on, people’s support for their governments started to decline. The decline was the sharpest among women, the self-employed and students.

Prior to the pandemic, students had generally shown a high level of support for their governments, but the school closures and restrictions affecting their social life changed this picture.

An earlier JRC report showed that the pandemic increased loneliness, especially among the young people.

The economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were also particularly severe for women.

As healthcare workers, caregivers and essential workers, women have been at the frontline of the COVID-19 response around the world.

At the same time, women also bore the brunt of the economic and social fallout of the crisis, and many have simultaneously lost their income.

The report suggests that in the COVID-19 recovery efforts, particular attention should be paid to the needs of these specific groups that were especially hard hit during the pandemic.