Section 6: Inequalities and COVID-19

The longer-term and largest consequences of the 'lockdown' for health inequalities will be through political and economic choices. Economists fear that the economic impact will be far greater than the financial crisis of 2007 / 2008, and they say that it is likely to be worse in depth than the Great Depression.

Previous research has found that sudden economic shocks like the global financial crisis lead to increases in morbidity, mental ill health, suicide and death from alcohol and substance use. These health impacts were not shared equally though - areas of the UK with higher unemployment rates had greater increases in suicide rates and inequalities in mental health increased with people living in the most deprived areas experiencing the largest increases in psychiatric morbidity and self-harm. Unemployment is disproportionately experienced by those with lower skills or who live areas with fewer employment opportunities. (Pub Med - Mitigating the wider health effects of covid-19 pandemic response. BMJ. 2020;369. (opens new window)) We also know that unemployment is likely to disproportionately affect the at-risk groups, women, young people and the poor.  

A recent report warns that despite the measures put in place by government to protect jobs, unemployment is set to rise further and faster than during any recession on record. There were over 400,000 Universal Credit claims in a week at the end of March, a figure over seven times higher than the year before. The number of claims is nearly five times higher than the peak in claims for Jobseekers Allowance - the main unemployment benefit at the time - during the height of the great recession in 2009. (The Edge Foundation (June 2020) The Impact of Covid-19 on Education) 

Analysis suggests that the gains of five years of jobs growth - during which employment increased to a record high - have been reversed in just one month. The analysis found that unemployment had already increased by half - from 3.9% to 6%, and that is likely to go higher still. 

The economic pain inflicted by COVID-19 will be felt unequally across the UK. Compared to the UK as a whole, the North East and the North West of England both have a higher proportion of employment in 'shutdown sectors' - which have had to significantly reduce operating in recent weeks to slow the spread of the virus, such as retail and manufacturing.