Covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic brought much to light.

When faced with crisis, care and kindness come to the fore. Almost overnight, people flocked to their doorsteps to clap for carers, to check in with vulnerable neighbors and to pin up pictures of NHS rainbows. Our interconnections and dependence on one another had never been clearer.

The key workers that kept us going were low-paid carers, nurses, shelf-stackers, cleaners and delivery drivers. Key workers who had been branded ‘unskilled’ earlier in the year were heralded as heroes.

Government intervention is possible, and powerful. When confronted by the pandemic, governments across the four nations chose to put people’s health first. The introduction of widespread restrictions massively reduced economic output but sought to ensure people would be safe; and borrowing to fund the furlough scheme kept up many people’s incomes even if we had to stay at home.

Crises do not impact everyone equally. While we may all have been weathering the same storm, we are in drastically different boats. The virus hit the most disadvantaged the hardest.

The Government’s measures in response to Covid-19 exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and created new ones that have disproportionately impacted women. Structural inequality is embedded in our society, and it requires bold, concerted action to eliminate it.