Due to the Covid-19 lockdown across the UK, Black and other ethnic minority groups are now under debt and working longer hours for less pay. New York Times published a report that said, according to a recent study, women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds in Britain are being hit disproportionately by the financial and psychological impacts of the pandemic.
Women lost their cleaning jobs, a nanny living with a family was fired for using public transport, many complained that their debts were accumulating due to freeze in salary or pay cuts. NYT spoke to three women who had one thing in common. “They are all women of color, a group that has long faced economic and racial inequality in Britain and is now being hit disproportionately by the financial and psychological impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent study by a group of British universities and women’s charities,” the report said.
Interim Director of Runnymede Trust & Member of Independent sage, Zubaida Haque told NYT, “Covid-19 has brought the harsh realities of pre-existing racial inequalities into sharp relief, and nowhere is this more manifest than the disproportionate social and economic impact of Covid-19 on Black and ethnic minority women.”
Minji Paik, a Korean beautician said that she makes £10 per hour now as compared to £19 including tips before the pandemic. She told NYT, “My manager says this is temporary and she will give me more money when we make money. But actually, I should be paid more because I’m working inside and risking my health.”
Candice Brown, 48, a cleaner who is of Jamaican descent, said that she lost all her jobs one by one and owners told her not to come. She is said to have navigated through the government’s financial support system for those affected by the pandemic, but eventually, due to lack of paperwork related to her employment history, she couldn’t use the grants.
Zuhr Rind, 48, a Pakistani laundromat worker in East London, who was afraid to lose her job was chided by her manager when she asked for a mask. She was later laid off. “When you have brown skin, when you have an accent and when you don’t have a high education, you don’t have choices,” she said. “And this is a very dangerous situation to be in during Covid,” she told the publication.
According to the study by Runnymede trust, black and ethnic minority women also generally have much lower levels of savings and assets than white Britons. So those who lost their jobs in the pandemic have had to seek new employment straight away, forcing some of them to take lower-paid, higher-risk posts.
