The impact of the first lockdown on the jobs of people the Tories don’t know exist
The Resolution Foundation has published an 80 page report detailing responses from 6,000 people it surveyed on the impact of the first lockdown on employment.
One key finding is summarised below:
While more than half of those furloughed during lockdown had returned to work by September, 9 per cent of those previously furloughed had lost their jobs. This rate was highest for 18-24-year-olds, Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers, and the low paid.
They found that 21% of the sample in the most deprived quartile had lost work, were furloughed or had lost hours or pay in early September. Of that sample 28% were based in London.
The impact has been disproportionately in hospitality and amongst younger workers.
I doubt too many readers of this are surprised. Ministers may be if they trouble to read the report. As with the impact of other epidemics over the last two centuries the hardest hit are people who the wealthy don’t know exist.
Ultimately however, historically, there has usually been a price to pay for Governments who don’t know or don’t care about the impact their policies have or don’t have on sections of society.
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