Australia

The Australian government temporarily extended the Jobseeker Programme from March due to the epidemic situation which provides unemployment protection for the self-employed who could not work due to the epidemic situation under. The government introduced Jobseeker ’s Benefit, which provides $ 550 in assistance every two weeks for the self-employed who had to stop their works. The self-employed individual eligible for this subsidy must meet the following requirements: aged 18-66 years, unable to continue the self-employment (excluding seasonal suspension), currently have no other job but have the work capability, and there are no arrears of social security contributions before. To allow the fast access to the benefits, the government canceled the property verification and the one-week waiting period during the epidemic.

On April 8th, the Australian Parliament passed the New Jobkeeper Payment, a 130 billion cash subsidy scheme, mainly aimed at the income damage caused by the epidemic (compared with the same period last year, monthly income decreased by more than 30%) of small businesses and the self-employed, eligible people can receive subsidy of $ 1,500 every two weeks and can enjoy up to 6 months.

Brazil

The Brazilian government announced a $ 150 billion economic stimulus plan on March 26th to weather the impact of the epidemic on the Brazilian economy. This includes an $ 8 billion bailout plan specifically for the self-employed in Brazil. The self-employed who are struggling to survive can apply for cash grants of $ 116 per month for three consecutive months.

Argentina

The Argentine government launched a $ 580 million plan on March 31st to help small and micro enterprises and the self-employed, hoping to minimize the impact of Covid-19 on low-income families. Families whose only depend on the income of the self-employed can receive a subsidy of 10,000 pesos ($ 157) provided by the government in April.