The Economist UK - 28.03.2020

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The EconomistMarch 28th 2020 25

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n some ways, Britain is more united than
it has been for a long time. Bickering over
Brexit has been shelved. Party politics is all
but suspended, after Parliament voted to
shut itself down on March 25th to min-
imise the risk of transmission of covid-19.
Ministers are marshalling an army of vol-
unteers to help the health service. And the
virus itself is no respecter of rank: Prince
Charles is among those it has infected.
Yet the fallout from the pandemic
threatens to expose—and widen—inequal-
ity in brutal fashion. As Torsten Bell of the
Resolution Foundation, a think-tank, puts
it, “the virus doesn’t discriminate between
people but the accompanying economic
shock certainly does.” Before covid-19 hit,
Boris Johnson’s plan was to “level up”
poorer communities. The opposite is hap-
pening. Young and old, north and south,
and rich and poor all have markedly differ-
ent capacities to bear the burden of lock-
down, social isolation and a sharp drop in
economic activity.
The first divide is geographic. Differ-

ences in the structure of local labour mar-
kets may lead to vastly different outcomes
across the country (see map overleaf ).
Some parts of the country are stuffed with
professionals who can weather travel re-
strictions by working from home; others
are full of factory workers who can hardly
set up assembly lines in their living rooms.
Prosperous places like Reading and Brigh-
ton have plenty of potential home-work-
ers, according to analysis by the Centre for
Cities, another think-tank. Less well-to-do
cities like Middlesbrough and Hull do not.
The south-east of England, the region
with the highest share of white-collar jobs,
is best placed for business as usual. More
than a third of journalists, for example,
work in London. The Economisthas been
entirely written and edited from journal-
ists’ homes, most of them in the south-
east. Even within regions, differences are
stark. Newcastle will cope better than
neighbouring Sunderland. The map echoes
geographic divides in support for Brexit.
The thriving areas that voted Remain are

more likely to be packed with video-con-
ferencers today than are the so-called left-
behind places that voted to leave the eu.
The second disparity is economic. The
most flexible workers tend to be higher
earners. The Resolution Foundation reck-
ons about half of Britain’s highest-paid em-
ployees can work from home, but less than
10% of those in the four lowest-paid deciles
can. Hospitality and retail workers, who
will bear the brunt of closures, are already
among the lowest-paid in Britain (see
chart). Nor can they fall back on reserves:
more than half of poorer households have
no savings.

Covid-19 and inequality

The great divider


Boris Johnson wants to “level up” Britain; covid-19 is doing the opposite

Higher pay, better prospects
Britain
By industry/occupation

Sources: Understanding Society; LFS

0 10 20 30 40
Share of employees who could work
from home, 2014-18 average, %

Median gross
weekly pay,2019, £
800

600

400

200

0

Managers & senior officialsManagers & senior officials

Public
administration

Public
administration
Finance,
insurance
Wholesale/retailWholesale/retail & business

Hotels/restaurantsHotels/restaurants

Britain


26 Slow start in combating covid
28 How the NHS is adapting
28 Drugs: coke out, weed in
30 Covid in a London street
30 Covid in an English village
31 Saving jobs
31 Alex Salmond is not guilty

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