Coronavirus: Enough money to live blog

Coronavirus: Enough money to live – The Resilience Revolution, Boingboing and CRSJ

One of the 42 ‘resilient moves’ from the Resilience Framework centres on ‘enough money to live’. Although we don’t prioritise any one resilient move over another, it can at times be helpful to focus on a particular move, especially when we’re thinking about campaigning for systems change – as the ‘changing the odds’ part of our resilience definition challenges us to do. And this is exactly what we did in 2019, when some of us youth co-leaders, along with other members of the Resilience Revolution in Blackpool, ran a campaign about fair wages for young people called the ‘same pay for the same day’ campaign.

You can read about our campaign findings and recommendations in the campaign booklet, but we also want to share some of our thinking about how ‘enough money to live’ is being challenged by the Coronavirus lockdown. This blog brings together some reflections from youth and adult co-leaders of the Resilience Revolution, including those from Boingboing and the Centre of Resilience for Social Justice.

Danielle, youth co-leader of the Resilience Revolution and proud member of the ‘same pay for the same day’ campaign, has been reflecting on the impact of the lockdown on young people’s incomes. She says, “During this pandemic, lots of young people are struggling and rightly getting worried about their pay. Many young people who are on zero hour contracts are not getting paid due to the Coronavirus crisis”. Adam, another member of the campaign group agrees, sharing, “I am unable to work, which results in me not getting paid for any work as I am on a zero-hour contract… the government has released new legislations and guidelines in line with the current situation to help those who might be financially struggling, but unfortunately I happen to fall between the gaps as I am on a zero-hour contract and don’t do the same amount of hours each month.”

We know that, like Adam, many people on zero-hour contracts are facing a loss of income as their work dries up in response to social distancing and lockdown measures. But, unlike employees with permanent contracts, casual workers do not have the same support and security in their jobs. Casual jobs lack important protections, and on top of that, workers aren’t paid benefits such as holiday or sick pay, and reports suggest some aren’t even making minimum wage. With estimates that as many as one-in-ten British workers are in precarious work, lack of job security and employment protection isn’t an isolated problem, but it is one that affects young people more than most as they make up a significant proportion of casual workers.

The poor job security and low wages faced by many young workers was already a concern for us even before the coronavirus pandemic, which is why we set up our wages campaign. Together with 7 other members of the Resilience Revolution, Danielle and Adam surveyed over 400 young people in Blackpool to get their views on employment. The survey revealed that even when coronavirus wasn’t a concern, two fifths of young people felt they were underpaid, a third weren’t earning enough money to live on and virtually none were getting paid overtime. Inspired by these insights, the campaign team set out five ways to improve things (more on those later!), including a recommendation for employers to pay all employees fairly, and ideally no less than the real Living Wage as set by The Living Wage Foundation. Unlike the Government minimum wage and National Living Wage, the real Living Wage is calculated according to what employees and their families need to earn in order to live. And it is expected to be the same for all adults, not just people over 25.  We are pleased to say that both Boingboing and Blackpool Council are accredited employers with the Living Wage Foundation.

Now, in the context of coronavirus, the need for the real Living Wage is becoming even more apparent as the crisis shines a light on the inadequacy of key workers’ wages. As a society we are increasingly recognising the importance of jobs which have previously been seen as low status such as health workers, social carers, shop workers and delivery drivers. Similar to our findings with young employees, the Living Wage Foundation says a quarter of key workers and over a third of care workers earn less than a real Living Wage. As we stand on our doorsteps clapping for the NHS, we find ourselves wondering how many of the millions of people clapping with us are aware that so many care workers’ wages don’t even meet the daily costs of living?

Supporting the campaign for a real Living Wage offers us one way to show appreciation for key workers that has the potential to make a genuine difference in people’s lives for years to come.

But the pandemic is doing more than highlighting the importance of key workers roles for protecting society, the crisis is also showing us the risks and devastating impact of social inequalities within and between societies. In the UK, social inequalities have been growing steadily over the last couple of decades, and Covid-19 is making the impact of inequalities worse including those that already exist along income levels. It is the long-term impact of the pandemic and compounding of existing inequalities that most worries Sam, a Youth Engagement Worker for the Resilience Revolution who says “one of my wider concerns is what does this do for an already deprived town? Families already struggle and we already face a lot of poverty and deprivation, so I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about the short term but also the long-term impact for my home-town and the people who live here”.

Sam is right to worry. As Kate Pickett, professor of epidemiology at the University of York and co-founder of the Equality Trust says, “those with fewer resources are less able to absorb economic shocks, and are more likely to be tipped into poverty, debt and unemployment”. Although for Sam and the wages campaign group it’s not all doom and gloom in Blackpool.  Over the last few years, Blackpool has been beating the odds by leading an ambitious and successful regeneration strategy against a backdrop of disproportionate central government cuts to funding. Blackpool Council has led bids that have brought millions of additional funding into the town for infrastructure projects, but it takes time to turn a town around and as with other town and cities across the world this global pandemic amplifies the disadvantage and inequality that still exists.

Coronavirus is being billed as the great equaliser, but while the virus itself might not discriminate between rich and poor, the social and economic impact of this pandemic will. The incomes of lower earners are being hardest hit and with less than one-in-ten of the bottom half of earners able to work from home, lower earners are twice as likely to lose their jobs as well as facing greater risk of contracting Covid-19. Not only are those of us with fewer resources less able to avoid public transport, but without the benefit of sick pay and fewer savings to fall back on, there is more pressure to keep working even when ill. Not everyone has the resources to self-isolate. Staying at home can be expensive as utility bills increase when we are in the house all day, stocking the cupboards costs money, and remote digital working relies on having expensive equipment.

For young people in Blackpool, who rely heavily on seasonal work and tourism, the huge close-down of the hospitality and service sectors is proving challenging, and as Adam found, few casual workers qualify for Government support. Even for those lucky enough to qualify for financial support, many young people and families living on tight budgets cannot make ends meet on only 80% of their income. As Danielle points out, a lot of young people don’t have families who can support them, and many have children of their own to look after. She says, “Government guidelines have been a massive issue in my place of work as a lot of our employees are on zero hour contracts. This means that a lot of people panicked, and our employer has had to fight to get us to be paid. I know that even though our employers have fought to get us our pay, there are still problems with it. One employee has been just over £100 down, is a single parent and relies on their income. However, our employer has been incredible and is trying to get that sorted as we speak”.

As part of the wider Resilience Revolution, leaders in many of Blackpool’s business networks, and the Council itself, were already beginning to listen to the findings of the wages campaign, and were set to start working with Blackpool Youth Council to explore how the recommendations could be mobilised. This is what we call ‘changing the odds’ work in the Resilience Revolution. And whilst some of these conversations have been swamped by a need to complete ‘beating the odds’ work during the current crisis, Blackpool Council is co-ordinating 12 community hubs to distribute food, support and social connection to community members. We are keeping systems change on the agenda as this will assist in removing barriers for communities to successfully navigate their way to the resources they need, both now and post COVID-19.

When it comes to fighting for access to government support, the quality of our relationship with our employer really matters. Danielle and her friends are fortunate to have a good relationship with their employers who have been fighting on their behalf. The significance of this is not lost on Danielle, since relationship building with employers is one of the key ‘resilient moves’ highlighted in the campaign for fair wages.​

But many other young people are having to navigate unfamiliar systems on their own where lack of clarity around government benefits and eligibility creates continued uncertainty and stress. Talking with Danielle and Adam, it’s clear that young people’s experiences are overwhelmingly characterised by this uncertainty around what is happening with their money and employment. In this rapidly changing context, no one seems to have any answers, as Hannah, another member of the wages campaign says, “I don’t think the government are in a place where they can give the answers because this is the unknown, no one in this lifetime has experienced a world pandemic like this. So, there are many people unsure whether they fit the government measures in order to be helped in this difficult time”. This uncertainty is only likely to compound the pressure on those of us with low incomes, as lower earners suffer disproportionately from poor mental health. This is especially worrying in the context of this pandemic as it is known that depression and stress weakens our immune systems.

So, with all this worry and concern, we turn our attention to what we can do to help, and in particular change the odds, and reduce inequality to improve lives during and beyond the coronavirus outbreak.  The impacts of inequality are becoming impossible to ignore, and the tragedy of Covid-19 is already acting as a catalyst for many changes in how society and systems go about doing things. Opportunities for change are being presented, but we have to engage with these opportunities if we want the changes to reduce inequalities and not deepen them further. By having conversations with each other, engaging with community groups, our MP’s, charities and other change making organisations, we work towards creating conditions for positive social change. Inspired by organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Equality Trust, and our own Resilience Revolution wages campaign, we’ve been thinking about some ideas we believe could help.

• Consider how we can support the campaign for a real Living Wage. Can we talk to our employers about the benefits of the real Living Wage and accreditation as a real Living Wage employer? What about sending an email to our local MP in support of raising minimum wage and the National Living Wage to meet real living costs?
• Ask ourselves and others whether it is time to consider a Universal Basic Income or minimum income guarantee. This is where everyone is eligible for a sum of money as a right of citizenship and with no strings attached. With the government being criticised for not managing to cover everyone who needs support, the idea of a Universal Basic Income is becoming increasingly relevant.
• Can we find ways to improve our relationship with our employers or support others to do so? Knowing what support is on offer, as and when tough times arise, is really important.
• Can we lend our support to the Equality Trust, who argues that the government should:
  • Extend statutory sick pay to those on lower incomes and introduce a new statutory retention pay
  • Freeze repayments on unsecured debt (e.g. loans and credit cards) and suspend all debt collection and enforcement activity
  • Freeze utility bills, rent and council tax payments, with no build-up of arrears
• How about supporting the Joseph Rowntree Foundation initiative to campaign for free wifi for vulnerable and low income groups to prevent a deepening the digital divide as work shifts increasingly online?

Taking part in activities that support wider social change are what we call ‘changing the odds’. But while we recognise that changing the conditions that create the need for resilience is vital, we understand that in the meantime we also need help to beat the odds. This is why we define resilience as ‘beating the odds while also changing the odds’ (Hart et al., 2016). So what ‘resilient moves’ can we make for ourselves and on the behalf of others to beat the odds in the face of the financial impacts of coronavirus?

Firstly, we should seek help if it is needed. Some good starting places are the coronavirus support pages at Money Saving Expert, the Money Advice Service and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Then, if we’re adjusting to life without employment, Adam suggests that we try to see time off work as an opportunity to practice and develop life skills like cooking. He also says he’s looking on the bright side of life by focusing on the additional quality time he’s now getting with his family, playing board games and watching films together. But most importantly, as Danielle agrees, we need to instil a sense of hope – and what better way than by focusing on the emerging opportunities to support positive social change?