Evidence from previous economic downturns suggests that young people leaving full-time education in the Covid-19 recession are going to find it much harder to secure employment and even harder to enter well-paid occupations than their immediate predecessors. The longer that the current slump in economic activity lasts, the more severe its consequences are likely to […]
Category: Inequality & poverty
Deal or no-deal, Brexit will have significant consequences for UK-EU trade, which will in turn have repercussions for the wider economy. The effects are likely to be highly unequal, with ‘blue-collar’ workers in the middle of the earnings distribution probably the worst hit. The end of the UK’s transition period out of the European Union […]
Providing supermarket vouchers to families on means-tested benefits to help feed their children during school holidays should increase spending on food, and reduce hunger and usage of food banks. It may also lead to a fall in obesity and an improvement in children’s performance at school. Thanks at least in part to a continuing campaign […]
Governments have spent large sums of money to protect the most vulnerable in society, but might a universal basic income have been a better response? Such a policy could bring many benefits – but it would be an expensive way to reduce poverty and support the most needy. The depth of the Covid-19 recession risks […]
There are growing concerns that the UK’s ethnic minorities are suffering disproportionately as a result of the pandemic – in terms of both their higher mortality risks and the worse economic outcomes for some groups. Considerable attention has been paid to the differences in Covid-19-related mortality across ethnic groups. The disproportionate numbers of deaths particularly […]
Children with special educational needs and disabilities have been particularly vulnerable to the sweeping changes that have accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular the closure of schools and cutbacks on additional support services during lockdown. The differential effects of the pandemic on different social groups have received substantial attention. Children with special educational needs and […]
The pandemic has required school closures across many countries, disrupting the provision of meals for pupils. What are the risks for children – and their families – who lose access to these programmes? And what could policy-makers do to mitigate the risks? School meal programmes are an important feature of many social welfare systems. By […]
Requests for help from people who can’t afford period products like pads and tampons have risen during the pandemic. Not only is financial support needed, but also access to menstrual healthcare and education, which have been limited by lockdowns and school closures. ‘Period poverty’ not only means that people who menstruate can’t afford products like […]
Further closures of schools to contain the spread of coronavirus are likely to exacerbate educational inequalities. Learning losses could have long-term consequences for the life chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Learning losses have been felt disproportionately by poorer pupils, both during the closure of schools in the initial lockdown and subsequently during the significant […]
The cost of living crisis is disproportionately affecting poorer households. With fewer resources to cover rising bills, many are taking on debt just to get by. This has consequences in the short term, but also lengthens the effects of this crisis for the most vulnerable. It has been a summer of deeply unwelcome records: the […]