Social Situation Analysis in Austria – Contributions by the European Centre

While the project ‘Social Situation Analysis’ has four modules, the European Centre contributed only to Module III – ‘Expertise on affected groups’. We drafted a chapter on single parents and one on people with disabilities. These chapters cover the overall situation prior to COVID-19 based on the existing information and research data, with special attention paid to the EU-SILC data. We elaborated on available information taking COVID-19 both as an amplifier and as a trigger for new problems. We also included derivations consisting of gaps and weaknesses in the social system, possible research approaches, and recommendations for action (short, medium and long-term). Gender and migration are horizontally covered themes of both chapters. The comprehensive analysis captures the status quo of the social situation of specific groups in Austria and includes anecdotic evidence of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The need for action and research to provide a factbased foundation for the start of a broad stakeholder dialogue is underlined as well as the development of short- and medium-term options for action aiming at long-term strategies for resilience.