Experts warn pandemic has widened many inequalities

The pandemic has exacerbated many existing inequalities in health and economics, according to a group of experts.

The New Year’s message from the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, chaired by Nobel Laureate Sir Angus Deaton has warned that the most vulnerable in society have often been hit the hardest by the events of the last 12 months.

The message notes that mortality rates from Covid-19 have been around twice as high in the most deprived communities as in the least deprived.

In addition, many ethnic minority groups have suffered much higher rates of mortality than the white majority. That in part reflects their occupations, according to the review.

More than two in ten black African working-age women are employed in health and social care, for example.

The message also notes that the best-paid and most highly educated have been much better able to ride out the crisis.

And while the impact on health and mortality has been far greater among the older generation, the review warns it is the younger generation which has felt the economic consequences of the pandemic.

More pensioners report an improvement in their financial situation than the reverse over this year. Meanwhile, people under 25 were more than twice as likely as older workers to have lost their job by this autumn.

‘As the vaccines should, at some point this year, take us into a world largely free of the pandemic, it is imperative to think about policies that will be needed to repair the damage and that focus on those who have suffered the most. We need to build a country in which everyone feels that they belong,’ said Sir Angus.

Mark Franks, the director of welfare at Nuffield Foundation, added: ‘Individuals are subject to a wide range of potential vulnerabilities around dimensions including age, ethnicity, place of birth, education, income and the nature of their employment. Where these vulnerabilities intersect, they can amplify and reinforce one another and play a huge role in driving unequal outcomes. As we enter a vital year, the IFS-Deaton Review of Inequalities is playing an important role in demonstrating how the pandemic has ruthlessly exposed such existing inequalities and also exacerbated them.’

Photo Credit – Geralt (Pixabay)