While the first report of this joint project of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Social Observatory (OSE) mapped the measures taken in relation to unemployment benefits, sickness benefits and leave for non-standard workers and the self‑employed (Spasova et al. 2021), this edited volume comprises eight country case studies: Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Sweden. These case studies have been produced by independent national experts. They looked into the country-specific situation regarding access to social protection for these categories of workers during the pandemic and provide a detailed description of the measures taken regarding unemployment benefits, sickness benefits and leave, as well as an initial assessment of their effects. This assessment – although currently only partial, as the pandemic measures are still on‑going and research is scarce − is a valuable contribution, describing the main issues encountered by some specific labour market groups regarding access to social protection.