Ethnic minority groups need more comprehensive access to state benefits to help mitigate housing pressures and the impact they have on COVID-19 transmission

Recommendations of group advising SAGE on ethnicity and COVID-19 include ending the benefit cap, bedroom tax and no recourse to public funds restrictions

Ethnic minority groups need more comprehensive access to state benefits in order to help mitigate the housing pressures they can face and the impact that they can have on increased risks of COVID-19 transmission, according to the ethnicity subgroup of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

In a paper presented to the SAGE meeting on 26 November 2020, the ethnicity subgroup analyses new data from five population studies, including a study from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and considers the extent to which household composition might explain how some minority ethnic groups in the UK have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19.

Key findings include -

• household composition, number of people in the household and their ages, are key factors in terms of risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality, even when taking account of deprivation and other factors;
• there is a correlation between large / multigenerational households and increased risk of infection and or mortality across all five studies;
• several of the studies indicate that household composition explains a proportion of the additional risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality in South Asian ethnic groups; and
• the ONS study found an increased risk of COVID-19 mortality for those living in multigenerational households, defined as households with at least one person aged 65 or over and one person 20 years younger.

While the sub-group says it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about how household composition contributes to higher infection and mortality risk among minority ethnic groups, it highlights that - because these groups face greater economic constraints, exacerbated by the economic impacts of the pandemic, and are more likely to live in housing in deprived communities - they will benefit more from mitigations in terms of key policy interventions to improve communications strategies, health provision and housing than other groups.

In relation to housing mitigations in particular, the subgroup's recommendations include -

• reducing the economic constraints on multigenerational and large households by removing the benefit cap, particularly in high housing cost areas;
• rescinding the no recourse to public funds rule for families with members without settled status as this may exacerbate issues of overcrowding in cases where job loss arises and there is no potential to draw on state benefits or social housing so that the use of informal arrangements leads to overcrowding;
• reviewing the bedroom tax in multi-person households - as spare rooms increase opportunities to mitigate risks of within-household transmission but minority ethnic groups are less likely to have access to such space; and
• provision of emergency grants for the repair and maintenance of social and private rental housing in local authority areas with the greatest housing deprivation, particularly in relation to improving ventilation provision and use.

Concluding the report, the sub-group reiterates that, while the evidence is not conclusive, its finding that there is a greater prevalence of households with multiple risk factors among certain ethnic minority groups means that interventions would particularly benefit these groups -

‘Policy approaches to support effective and non-stigmatising policies for UK households, which include advice to all UK households on how to keep domestic and care work safe, are required. This includes practical support for family members in overcrowded and/or multigenerational homes and when the national lockdown is lifted, social bubbling policies that better reflect extended family networks, particularly common among ethnic minority groups.

Funding to improve the quality of housing, more comprehensive access to state benefits, clear government guidance to housing providers and occupants on improving ventilation provision and housing policies that do not limit the amount of space available to families are required to reduce reliance on informal arrangements and reduce overcrowding in housing.’

For more information, see Housing, household transmission and ethnicity, 26 November 2020 from gov.uk