aged 0 to 6 in childcare facilities and pre - schools by more than 260, 000 units. see also welcome address by luigi federico signorini to the bank of italy - cepr conference on labour market participation : forces at work and policy challenge, 2018. based on data from istat, italian labour force survey, 2019 and 2021. without pay and, often, with little social - security protection ; 14 they may entail human capital losses that further reduce career prospects. temporary workers who would like to have a permanent job may not be able to find one because employers try to avoid higher hiring / firing / regulatory costs. the right balance of job protection in various segments of the labour market is a much - debated policy issue. perhaps less often discussed is the role of market competition ( or lack thereof ) in determining the equilibrium in the labour market. interestingly, one paper in this workshop argues that the degree of market power that employers enjoy influences their ability to shift demand uncertainty onto workers by forcing them to accept less protected types of employment. 15 another lively debate concerns statutory minimum wages, an institution that exists in many countries to protect low - wage workers. italy, as many in the audience will know, has no statutory minimum wage ; the constitutional right to “ proportioned and sufficient ” pay has so far been enforced by the courts indirectly, through reference to collective bargaining clauses. from an economic point of view, the level of the statutory minimum wage is critical : there is, once again, a trade - off between protecting the most vulnerable and avoiding negative employment effects. and, once again, the degree of market competition does appear to matter. in fact, a paper to be presented today argues that the terms of the trade - off depend on the degree of product and labour market power that the employer enjoys. 16 in turn, professor lindner ’ s influential contributions explore the issue of the extent to which wage increases can be passed on by firms to consumers via higher prices. 17 one final theme is the design of social safety nets. the concern here is to ensure protection from poverty without discouraging participation in the labour market. market incentives are obviously central to this debate. as an example, a paper that will be presented tomorrow shows that the design of child benefits affects women ’ s employment. 18 professor hoynes ’ research has also highlighted the labour supply implications of inwork credits, as well as their impact on poverty, health and well - being. 19 see f. d ’ amuri

that deep recessions, especially if accompanied by severe financial distress, may have long - lasting effects on potential output, in particular through a reduction in the speed and quality of capital increase. coupled with adverse structural developments, such as the ageing of populations in large parts of the world, the global financial crisis and the euro - area sovereign debt crisis have pushed down equilibrium interest rates, reducing the room for an effective monetary policy response to the low - growth, low - inflation environment. we are now fully aware that, when confronted with recessions of such a magnitude, a joint and strong effort on the part of both monetary and fiscal policy is necessary to prevent structural damages to the economy. today, we have just faced another global recession of unprecedented nature and size, which hit our economies in the middle of the digital and green revolutions. the pervasive adjustments forced by these two structural changes, together with the legacy of the pandemic, which is still threatening our countries, are pushing the global economy into 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches uncharted territories. it is still hard to understand what the “ new normal ” will look like, but i believe that both governments and central banks can do a great deal to prevent the pandemic shock from leaving permanent scars. it is of the utmost urgency to prepare our economies for the future, making possible the stronger, inclusive and sustainable growth pursued over the years, with mixed success, by the g20. indeed, “ people, planet and prosperity ” are the priorities of the italian presidency of the g20. the global policy response to the crisis, thanks to the close international cooperation that the g20 strongly promotes, has already obtained important results. the joint action of fiscal and monetary policies has avoided a generalized tightening of credit, averting the risk of a spiralling crisis. it has attenuated the impact of the emergency on the corporate and household sectors, preventing the destruction of viable physical, intangible and human capital. it has also been key in directing resources to strengthening health - care infrastructures, including for the development of vaccines. thanks to the policy support and the vaccination campaigns, the recovery is now gaining strength. economic forecasts are being revised upward. however, progress is uneven, and less developed and emerging economies are still facing major difficulties in curbing the pandemic. the health crisis will not be over until vaccines are accessible to all countries. diverging health and economic patterns would not be acceptable, as