Exploring the social impact of COVID-19 measures on vulnerable families in Curaçao, Aruba and Saint Maarten

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the economies, health care systems and living standards, but also how people interact and live together on Curaçao, Aruba and Saint Maarten (CAS islands). This chapter focuses on the social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various types of vulnerable families: women, older adults and documented as well as undocumented migrants. These groups all tend to be more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lack certain human rights and provisions. The chapter critically assesses states' responses towards protecting vulnerable families on the CAS islands. A multi-sited qualitative research approach is applied to understand the diverse reasons that contribute to increases in vulnerability, the perception of COVID-19 measures, the various ways in which vulnerable families show resilience and the impact of states' COVID-19 measures on quality of life of vulnerable families in the CAS islands.