The Institute for Fiscal Studies has called for action to make Britain a fairer country after its research showed that the Covid-19 pandemic had led to greater inequality. The IFS said the most vulnerable – those on lower incomes, the young, the least-educated and people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds – had been hit hardest by the crisis.
Covid-19 has “cruelly exposed huge variations in how easily we are able to weather threats to livelihoods, to educational progress, to physical and mental health”, the IFS said. “These disparities have been closely correlated with pre-existing inequalities between groups according to their education, income, location and ethnicity – in ways that are often hard to disentangle, but depressingly familiar.”
Any plan to restore or recover from the pandemic simply has to include a practical and costed plan to address the inequalities in the UK if we are to be more resilient and sustainable in the future. The medium to long term impact of Brexit and the climate change crisis are not yet fully understood in terms of the effect on inequalities, but seem likely to be significant and must be taken into account.
The WHO has already said that this was a pandemic that was driven by social and economic inequalities. If we are serious about Building Back Better then we cannot be aiming for Business As Usual. The reduction of inequalities must surely be at the heart of our thinking and planning for the future, if it is not we will have learnt very little from the terrible events of the last year.
Chris Bain 