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For many households, spending has gone down & savings up during #covid19. But this is not the story for many households particularly those living on a new income, as our new @CovidRealities research with @resfoundation shows (thread) https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/pandemic-pressures/
Our new report shows how families on a low-income report increased spending as they struggle with additional costs and find that their usual ways of getting by suddenly become impossible.
The statistics can show us what's happening at the national level, but we then draw on qualitative evidence, provided by parents and carers working on the @CovidRealities @NuffieldFound project to understand what is happening for low-income families & why http://www.covidrealities.org
We asked parents and carers how their spending has changed as a result of the pandemic. This is what they said
Parents documented the additional costs of having children at home all the time; and of seeing increases in their heating bills (and this was before winter and the third lockdown struck)
Parents described how they faced financial security on top of the insecurity that we all face because of the pressures of the pandemic. This inevitably had a negative impact on parents' mental health, as highlighted by Zara
Our Pandemic Pressures report calls for the government to continue & extend the £20 uplift to #UniversalCredit, while also looking to provide more targeted income support to families with dependent children https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/pandemic-pressures/
. @Carolin55162028 & @Psychologicsal were interviewed by @BBCNews sharing their own @CovidRealities & making a compelling case for why change is so urgently needed https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55618528
. @patrickjbutler @guardian also covered the @resfoundation @CovidRealities Pandemic Pressures report; documenting how many families face very significant financial pressures; pressures which so far have not been offset by government action https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/11/poor-families-living-costs-have-surged-during-pandemic-uk-study-finds
So grateful to the parents & carers we work with on @CovidRealities who are documenting everyday life in the pandemic, to @MikeBrewerEcon @resfoundation for collaborating on this report & to @NuffieldFound for funding the #covidrealities project: http://www.covidrealities.org (Ends)
