Scottish inequalities set to widen over Covid impact

The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to widen inequalities across Scotland, with poorer and vulnerable groups likely to be worst by the pandemic’s broader impact, a major report has found.

Those in poverty, disabled people, low paid workers, children, older people and ethic minorities will be among those hit hardest.

Health, the economy, fair work and business have been "negatively affected" over the past nine months as the country has gone into lockdown, according to the report entitled Scotland's Wellbeing: The Impact of Covid-19.

The pandemic is set to worsen Scots inequalities

The report warns there has been an "entrenchment of existing inequalities and a potential for new inequalities to emerge”.

The key impact has been in health, with upwards of 6,000 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, while health and care services have also been hit.

The economic contraction has also been marked with growth down by a fifth in the early months of the pandemic, but the full impact on unemployment is unlikely to be seen until next year when furlough ends.

And the report warns: "It is likely that this will be borne unevenly, primarily affecting younger and older workers, women, ethnic minorities and people in low-paid jobs."

The fall in household incomes has also been most acutely felt among those on lower incomes, which has also resulted in "increases in debt”.

And the report adds: "Conversely for those on high incomes, household budgets were often strengthened because of a reduction in spend which more than offset any loss of income.

"The balance of evidence suggests that income inequality will widen in future."

Social connections have also suffered, with an increase in "isolation and loneliness" as a result of Covid restrictions, the report adds.

"Some groups of people have reported reduced access to support and services during lockdown, particularly disabled people," the document adds.

"There has been reported increases in hate crimes, domestic abuse and sexual exploitation, though caution needs to be applied before attributing all the changes seen in these to the pandemic. Access to justice has also been impacted by backlogs in the courts."

The report also warns the "personal and social development" of children could suffer as a result as a result of their time out of school in the early months of lockdown.

Nursery-age youngsters could suffer most with the closure of early learning and childcare facilities.

"The closure of ELC facilities and delays to the rollout of ELC expansion during the pandemic may have longer term consequences for children who were in their early years in 2020, especially for those from poorer backgrounds who benefit more from high quality ELC," the report adds.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and Cosla President, Councillor Alison Evison, in a joint-statement introducing the report, said the document set out how Scotland's communities had been affected.

“It will be a surprise to no-one that much of the evidence in this report describes how Covid-19 has harmed progress towards Scotland’s national outcomes in terms of health and wellbeing, the economy and our society more broadly," their statement adds.

"But there are also important grounds for hope and optimism. We have seen innovation in response to the crisis, for example, in the swift expansion of digital services and solutions to aid control of the pandemic and to help mitigate its impact."

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