Pandemic and the Poor

  The lifting of the first COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year did little to improve the incomes of people in Britain who lost out from the restrictions, and lower-earning households have borne the brunt of the hit, a  Resolution Foundation said in a report.

Adults in highest 20% income band, or an average of 64,000 pounds ($84,400) a year, were more likely to have seen their family budgets improve than deteriorate from before the pandemic as many managed to save more.

By contrast, low-income households on 13,000 pounds a year were more than twice as likely to have seen their budgets deteriorate.

With unemployment on the rise in Britain, the proportion of adults reporting a drop in incomes improved only slightly to 23% between July and September from 27% in the April-June period.

Three-in-ten of the adults who took a sustained income hit were unable to afford some basic household costs such as heating and fresh fruit and vegetables, the report said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-incomes/end-of-lockdown-did-little-for-incomes-of-uks-hardest-hit-study-idUSKBN27V0RR