One of the most significant challenges highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic was the financial security (and therefore, the well-being) of the British population. During a nation-wide crisis that threatened the health, trade and the economic growth of the country, many families suffered. There was no other option during March 2019, other than to put the country into a nationwide lockdown, and this caused many small and large businesses to shut down. This led to employers either having to let employees go, or (thanks to Government intervention) putting them on furlough, but this, after a period of time, eventually led to many redundancies. The loss of so many jobs illustrated the precarious state of many working families. Indeed, statistics had showed in the years before COVID-19, that the average adult in the UK has debt amounting to ¬£30,575 (without student loans) and that the average worker only saves 8.21% of their monthly income. The average annual earnings for 2020 was ¬£31,461, but many low paid employees find themselves working in positions that only offer Zero Hour contracts and many are on much lower earnings than ¬£30,000 a year. These workers will immediately be affected by a reduction in hours or lack of income as they have no buffer at all to work with. However, the level of debt and the small percentage of savings that the average UK worker maintains, means that someone in more well paid and regular work can also run into problems, as there is a very small lee-way for survival if an emergency occurs. Obviously, when a large percentage of the population is living in such a precarious situation it affects many already struggling community services ‚’ the NHS, Social Services, Housing, Counselling Services, Food Banks, Charities, etc.
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