When the Georgian unemployment statistics for Quarter 2 (April, May, June) of 2020 came out, no one was surprised to see that the national unemployment rate, which had been falling steadily over the previous quarters, and even years, suddenly increased by 0.9 percentage points relative to the same quarter of 2019 (more precisely from 11.4% in Q2 2019 to 12.3% in Q2 2020). Perhaps we were more surprised by the fact that the unemployment rate did not go up more drastically in the midst of a strict lockdown, various travel restrictions, and quarantine measures.

Parliamentary elections are just around the corner. A well-informed and empowered citizen is central to the outcome of elections that will be in the best interest of the future development of the country. Do you consider yourself an informed voter? How are you making your decision on whom to vote for? Do you know where you stand on a political landscape?

“The lobby of the Metropole, Moscow's lovingly restored grand hotel a few blocks from Red Square, is almost deserted on this gray spring afternoon. That's just fine with Jeffrey D. Sachs, a boyish-looking 38-year-old Harvard professor who is now probably the most important economist in the world. He has appropriated a cluster of comfortable armchairs for a meeting with two members of his team, Americans who work full time in Russia. The agenda is Russia's safety net or, more precisely, whether unemployed workers will be able to make ends meet.

The project is aimed at providing a useful basis for the development of the new Cooperation Programme on how to best address the inclusion of vulnerable social groups. The study will help in the formation of decisions over any needed program adjustments and target groups in order to achieve better outcomes of the future Cooperation Program.

People face complicated financial decisions starting from a young age. Financial mistakes made early in life can be costly. Thus, Financial literacy could play an important role in sound financial decision-making. Financial illiteracy has implications for many household behaviors. People with the lack of financial literacy participate less in the stock market (van Rooij et al. 2011), choose mutual funds with higher fees (Hastings and Tejeda- Ashton, 2008), and accumulate less retirement wealth (Behrman et al. 2010).