On Monday 13th April an exclusive BMG poll for The Independent highlighted that ethnic minorities and young people are disproportionately hit financially and economically. According to the poll almost a third of all households are seeing their finances cut and more than one in 20 are saying that they have lost over half their income where workers under 35-years-old were significantly more likely to have been lost their jobs or “furloughed” than older colleagues or their white counterparts.
Liberal Democrat equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine warned that younger people are also suffering in this pandemic with their education and training disrupted owing to the indefinite closure of the schools. She said,
“Now more than ever, the government must drop the foolish notion that coronavirus doesn’t discriminate. As an absolute priority, ministers must pick up the pace and act to reduce the inequality gap. Liberal Democrats will be a voice for the most vulnerable at this challenging times. We are calling on the government to introduce a ‘citizen’s income’ and an end to the five-week wait for benefits by raising benefit rates, abolishing sanctions and turning day-one universal credit loans into grants.”
BMG found that 46 per cent of BAME people reported that their household income had reduced as a result of coronavirus, against 28 per cent of white British households. Some 15 per cent of respondents from ethnic minorities said they had lost their job, compared with 8 per cent of white Britons.
