New research by the University of Southampton and University of St Andrews, found that certain types of households were particularly at risk of both short and long-term socio-economic or health problems which could be made worse by the virus. The study examined Understanding Society data collected from around 19,500 households.
Who could be at risk?
- Working-age households are more likely to face financial, housing and employment uncertainties.
- Retirement-age households are more vulnerable when it comes to health and access to modern technology.
- Households in London and Scotland are less likely to have access to the internet or home computers than other regions of the UK.
- Northern Irish households are more likely to be vulnerable to precarious financial situations
Dr Katherine Keenan believes the findings, which imply that the short and long-term consequences of the Covid-19 crisis are likely to vary by household type, can be used to create targeted policies: “Policy measures should consider how vulnerabilities cluster together across different household types, and how the Covid-19 pandemic may exacerbate already existing societal inequalities.”
