Review calls for a ‘fairer, healthier society’ after pandemic

Economic and social inequalities, austerity cutbacks and rising levels of poverty have all increased the ‘lethality of Covid-19’ in the UK, according to a new study.

The study by Sir Michael Marmot urges the government to build a ‘fairer, healthier society’ in the wake of the pandemic, with health and wellbeing ‘at the heart of all policy making’.

It was commissioned by the Health Foundation as the first major output of its COVID-19 impact inquiry and highlights the disproportionate impact that the pandemic is having on young people, minorities and poorer communities.

‘Britain has tried the austerity experiment. It did not work, if health and wellbeing are the markers of success,’ the report states.

For example, it warns teachers in the most deprived schools are over three times more likely to report that their pupils are four months or more behind in their curriculum than those in the least deprived schools.

And it adds many parents accessed some form of support to help with their children’s development during lockdown.

However, the level of support accessed varied by family income, with high income parents’ households more likely to have received online support from their early learning providers than low-income households – 31% compared to 23%

The likelihood of a worker who was furloughed during lockdown not being in work by September was particularly high for the young (19 per cent of workers age 18-24 who were furloughed in lockdown were not in work in September), for those in insecure work (22 per cent), for workers from minority ethnic communities (22 per cent); and those working in hospitality (15 per cent).

‘Putting the health and welfare of the next generation at the heart of the UK’s recovery plans will be critical in the years ahead,’ said the Health Foundation’s chief executive, Dr Jennifer Dixon.

‘It should concern us all that the pandemic has hit young people so hard, affecting their education, their work and income.’

Commenting on the report, Helen Barnard, director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: ‘The pandemic has laid bare the terrible consequences of failing to address poverty and health inequality in this country. Communities that were already struggling have been hit hardest and now face a rising tide of unemployment that risks further entrenching poverty and ill health.

‘It can never be right that someone’s life chances are so profoundly affected by where they live, the colour of their skin or how much money their family has. It is clear that we cannot go back to the way things were if we are to truly break poverty’s grip on our nation’s health – tackling poverty and health inequality must be at the heart of our post-Covid recovery. A government commitment to make the £20 increase to Universal Credit permanent would be a good place to start.’