Pandemic of inequality: an analysis of socioeconomic factors predicting economic instability during the 2020-21 COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in the United Kingdom

Publication type

Journal Article

Author

Publication date

July 8, 2021

Summary:

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected individuals and families across the world from March 2020 to the present. From a UK perspective, reviewed literature confirms that there is a deep divide in the factors causing a person’s employment to be affected by the pandemic, with educational attainment, household income and age all having a role. Food insecurity has been increasing rapidly in recent years in the UK, and the literature confirms exacerbated levels of food insecurity coming as a result of the pandemic. The present study seeks to understand the variables influencing two research questions, firstly which factors will affect the likelihood of being ‘furloughed’ (under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) or otherwise being required to reduce one’s working hours, and secondly the factors that may cause someone to experience food insecurity in the pandemic. Key findings are that having young children, being self-employed and having a higher household income are all factors that may make it more likely that one will lose hours in their job or be furloughed. Conversely, being a keyworker and having higher educational qualifications are shown to reduce the likelihood of reducing job hours. Food insecurity is made more likely by being from an ethnic minority background, having young children and being a lower earner.

Published in

SocArXiv

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/yug2x

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Notes

Open Access

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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