BAME and single-parent families worst hit financially by Covid-19 – The Guardian

Single parents and workers from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups have experienced the hardest economic shocks as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, new analysis reveals.

Research by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex confirms that the earnings of households across the UK have fallen, with lowest earners suffering disproportionately.

Approaching half 44% - of non-BAME individuals whose working hours have declined during the crisis have been furloughed, while 7% have found themselves unemployed.

By contrast, only 31% of BAME workers who have experienced a drop in the hours they are working have been furloughed, while more than 20% have lost their jobs.

BAME household earnings have fallen from an average 441 a week to 404 over the course of the crisis. Non-BAME groups saw their average weekly earnings fall from 547 to 503.

Across the UK population as a whole, the highest 20% of earners saw their average earnings fall by 48 a week, from 832 in February to 784 in April.

Those in the lowest income bracket saw their weekly earnings fall 43 over the same period, from an average of 297 to 254.

The earnings of single parents fell by more than double the amount experienced by households with children and more than one adult.

Their average weekly household earnings fell 36, from 511 in February to 475 in April.

But single-parent households saw their average weekly earnings fall by 73, from 326 to 253 over the same period.

The data show that nearly 18% of the lowest earners were behind on their household bills, compared with just 2% of those in the highest income bracket.

The lowest earners were also more than five times more likely to report that they had been hungry but had not eaten at some time in the course of a week.

People are mitigating the effects of the pandemic in different ways: multiple adult households have relied more on savings compared with single parents, whereas single parents have relied more on borrowing, said Paul Fisher of the ISER.

The pandemic has meant many families have faced indescribable hardships on a day-to-day basis.

The BAME figures are particularly striking and we need to urgently understand the source of the difference. For example, to what extent it can be explained by differences in the type of jobs done by different groups.

The figures are based on respondents aged between 20 and 65 who participate in the regular Understanding Society survey, one of the largest household panel studies in the world.

More than 17,000 people were asked about their financial circumstances in the last week of April, and what their circumstances had been in January and February.

These new data show us that the economic shocks caused by the pandemic have affected people unevenly across the UK, said Thomas Crossley, associate director for scientific content at the survey. We know from this first look at the data that twice as many people expect their financial situation to get worse as those who expect it to get better. This rises to three times as many in the lowest income bracket, and among single parents.

Joe Richardson, research and policy officer at Gingerbread, a charity that provides support for single-parent families, said this group had been hit with a triple penalty as a result of the crisis. Many single parents had found themselves furloughed while experiencing increased costs because of their children not attending school or nursery, or having their maintenance payments reduced or withdrawn.

Prior to Covid-19, almost half of single parents were in poverty, Richardson said. The pandemic has meant many of these families have faced indescribable hardships on a day-to-day basis. It is not uncommon for single parents to have to choose between feeding themselves or feeding their children it really is that stark.

A government spokesman said: Our job retention and self-employment schemes are helping millions through the crisis. Weveinjected 6.5bn into the welfare safety net and have introduced mortgage holidays andtax deferrals.

Before the outbreak, the numbers of women and individuals from a BAME background in work was at a record high and the actionsweve taken will help to mitigate the economic impact of the virus.

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BAME and single-parent families worst hit financially by Covid-19 - The Guardian