Coronavirus: Young people to be hit hardest by lasting impacts of crisis, says IFS

Coronavirus: Young people to be hit hardest by lasting impacts of crisis, says IFS

Graduates from school and university entering workforce at 'probably the most difficult time in living memory'

Kate Ng

Young workers, alongside low-paid earners and women, will feel the worst of the effects of the coronavirus crisis in the UK, a study has found.

Researchers at the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said employees under the age of 25 were more than twice as likely as other age groups to work in a sector that has now been shut down as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

The UK has been under strict social distancing measures since around mid-March, which has effectively led to the closure of numerous sectors, including non-food retail, hospitality, passenger transport, personal services and arts and leisure services.

Before the lockdown was put in place, sectors that are now shut down employed nearly 30 percent of all employees under the age of 25, said IFS researchers. This is compared to just 13 percent of workers aged 25 and above.

The pandemic is also likely to have a bigger impact on women than men, as women disproportionately work in retail and hospitality.

When analysing the disparity between earnings levels, the IFS found that people with the lowest earnings were seven times as likely to work in shut-down sectors as those with the highest-earnings.

“In the short run, many young people will have the cushion of the earnings of parents or other household members during the coronavirus pandemic,” noted the IFS.

“But the long-run effects of sector shut-downs on their career prospects could be severe.”

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Monday called for universal credit to be boosted to support those who have been made jobless due to the crisis.

Аpril 8, 2020

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