Europe's Economy Was Hit Hard Too, But Jobs Didn't Disappear Like In The U.S.

Employees assemble motors at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Stuttgart, Germany, on Wednesday. The German government pays much of laid-off workers' salaries for up to 12 months during economic crises. 

Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images

When the British economy ground to a halt a few weeks ago, Reda Maher suddenly found himself among the ranks of the unemployed, alongside untold millions of other people around the world.
But unlike many others, Maher can rest easy, knowing that money will keep flowing into his bank account until he's called back to work.

"I woke up a couple of hours later than I normally would. I won't lie," Maher said one afternoon earlier this month. "I took a nice long masked and gloved walk. I've got a remote personal training like fitness session in about 20 minutes."

The United Kingdom recently began paying 80% of the salaries of workers laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The government caps the pay at about $3,000 a month, but many employers, including the London-based video streaming service where Maher works, add to what the government hands out.

Maher also doesn't need to worry about being left without health care coverage, thanks to Britain's National Health Service.

Across Europe and in Canada, governments are easing the plight of workers idled because of the coronavirus pandemic by essentially paying part of their salaries, says Gabriel Zucman, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

"What it means is that people remain on the books. They keep receiving their salaries," Zucman says. "And when social distancing ends, they will just return to work, as if they had been on a long, government-paid leave."