Employment

Low paid workers ‘twice as likely’ to have lost jobs during the pandemic

Researchers from the Institute for Employment Studies said urgent action was needed to protect incomes, increase employment and support decent work

Job centre

Low paid workers are more than twice as likely to have lost their jobs during the pandemic and could be at greater risk of being temporarily laid off or having their hours cut, according to a new report. 

Independent research centre the Institute for Employment Studies claimed people on low incomes had “slipped through the cracks” and been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 jobs crisis compared to those on higher salaries. 

While emergency support measures including the furlough scheme and £20 uplift to Universal Credit might have helped “cushion” the impact, the institute said many on low pay were still “bearing the brunt”.

As many as four million workers were likely to be working less than usual in the current lockdown alone, they added. 

Lockdowns have taken income away from hundreds of Big Issue sellers. Support The Big Issue and our vendors by signing up for a subscription. 

Tony Wilson, director at the Institute of Employment Studies, said the pandemic had taken a “significant toll” on jobs and incomes, requiring urgent action to address the employment crisis. 

“Now is not the time to be cutting Universal Credit or cutting back on employment protections,” he said. 

“In fact we need to do more to support low-income households, reform sick pay and ensure that workplace rights can be properly enforced. Looking further ahead, we need to plan now for the recovery and ensure that we put full employment and decent work is at the heart of it.” 

A total of 2.6 million people are expected to be out of work by the middle of 2021, according to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spending Review forecast. 

The furlough scheme, which allows employers to place workers on leave and continue paying them, has been extended until April, but many have already been made redundant. 

The latest figures show the number of “payroll” employees has fallen by 819,000 since February 2020, with 1.69 million people out of work in total. 

According to the new report, lower-paying jobs likely to have been affected were in manufacturing, hospitality, residential care and construction. 

However, the authors said while employment was falling for the low paid, the numbers finding work had increased in higher-skilled industries. 

Public services, technology and finance had bucked the trend, the researches found, warning this could risk “growing polarisation” in the jobs market and widening inequalities. 

The new research was paid for by the Standard Life Foundation, which funds research to tackle financial problems and improve living standards.

Mubin Haq, its chief executive, said the stark new findings highlighted how the pandemic had affected those on the lowest incomes. 

“This report provides further evidence of the pandemic’s severe impact on the low-paid,” Haq said.

“Lost jobs, reduced hours, insecure work, meagre sick pay. We have seen some progress but culture and practice remains poor in too many places. 

“More action on incomes, protecting rights and employment support is needed if we are to ease the financial pain and insecurity many families are facing.” 

The report concluded ministers could better support low paid workers through the crisis by extending “flexible furlough” through to Autumn, maintaining the £20 uplift in Universal Credit, reforming sick pay, investing in skills and improving protections for workers. 

The Big Issue is committed to helping keep the UK in their jobs and in their homes through the pandemic and beyond. Register for our jobs and training programme to get free training, regular careers advice and access to hundreds of thousands of job listings. Sign up here.

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
'Job apocalypse': Up to 8 million Brits risk losing their jobs to AI, government warned
Employment

'Job apocalypse': Up to 8 million Brits risk losing their jobs to AI, government warned

I was a drunk and homeless at 19. Volunteering helped me get my life back
Volunteering

I was a drunk and homeless at 19. Volunteering helped me get my life back

'I skip meals to save money': Life on social care frontline is leading to a support worker exodus
Image of carer holding elderly person's hand
Social care

'I skip meals to save money': Life on social care frontline is leading to a support worker exodus

'All my earnings go on rent:' Millions of women in UK struggling to make ends meet in low-paid jobs
People on legacy benefits are being pushed into poverty
employment

'All my earnings go on rent:' Millions of women in UK struggling to make ends meet in low-paid jobs

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know