Equality and Human Rights Commission calls on the DWP to ensure social security system supports the right to an adequate standard of living

COVID-19 pandemic has painfully exposed the fragility of the gains that had been made towards becoming a fairer and more prosperous society, says Commission Chair

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has called on the DWP to ensure that the social security system supports the right to an adequate standard of living.

In How coronavirus has affected equality and human rights, the EHRC examines current evidence that exposes the impact of coronavirus across key areas of life - including the labour market, poverty and income - and the hardship faced by different groups in society.

In relation to the economic impacts of the pandemic, the EHRC says that they have been unequal, and have widened and entrenched existing inequalities, as confirmed by key findings that include -

• a disproportionate decrease in earnings of the lowest-income households as a result of underemployment and unemployment flowing from the COVID-19 crisis;
• a consensus in the evidence that the EHRC has examined that the number of households facing hardship has increased even where social security interventions have helped to cushion these decreases in people's incomes, for example as shown by the ‘unprecedented’ increase in demand for emergency food parcels in addition to social security payments; and
• women, young people, disabled people and many ethnic minority groups (particularly Bangladeshi and Pakistani) being most likely to have experienced a reduction in earnings through redundancy, a reduction in hours, or being furloughed from a job in a shut-down sector.

Warning that groups with protected characteristics whose hardship has been made worse by the pandemic have already seen their living standards deteriorate over the last decade, the EHRC says the evidence shows that the UK Government’s social security system has failed to protect everyone's basic income during the outbreak, and it will not protect everyone equally in the recovery without significant policy changes.

As a result, the EHRC calls for action to address the most pressing inequalities caused by low incomes, including that -

• the UK Government bring the socio-economic duty under the Equality Act 2010 into force in England at the earliest opportunity (the duty is due to be introduced in Wales from 31 March 2020 and is already in force in Scotland);
• regional and local authorities in England should consider adopting the socio-economic duty prior to its introduction to support more inclusive approaches to strategic decision making;
• to achieve inclusive economic growth, governments across the UK should put equality at the heart of their recovery and investment strategies, taking steps to identify and monitor specific economic impacts of the pandemic on groups of people who share protected characteristics, and adjusting plans to provide targeted support for groups and sectors experiencing disproportionate negative economic impacts; and
• the DWP should ensure that the social security system is accessible and effective for all by supporting the right to an adequate standard of living and ensuring the Department does not contribute to increasing material deprivation and poverty by taking steps including -
  • a review of the five-week wait for first payments of universal credit;
  • a review of the impact of sanctions and conditionality;
  • the collection and monitoring of data on the protected characteristics of claimants and claim outcomes; and
  • provision of reasonable adjustments where required.

Commenting on the report, Interim Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Caroline Waters said:

‘The pandemic has painfully exposed the fragility of the gains that we’d made towards becoming a fairer and more prosperous society. As we look towards the future and consider what our ‘new normal’ may look like, we have to decide what sort of a society we want to become. This is an opportunity to put equality and human rights at the heart of our recovery, politically and economically, so that we have a strong foundation at the core of everything we do. Not only would this cement necessary protections in everyone’s lives, but it could help prevent those who are most vulnerable having to bear the brunt of adversity in the future.’

For more information, see Hard-won equality and human rights at risk of going backwards in wake of pandemic from equalityhumanrights.com