The Covid Realities team launched their final report yesterday, on Monday 24th January 2022 at an online webinar. The report called Covid Realities: documenting life on a low income during the pandemic, presents key findings from the project as well as the Special Interest Group of academics and researchers across the UK who have been documenting the pandemic as it has unfolded. The Following Young Fathers Further study will also feature in a new book by the Covid Realities team. Published with Policy Press this is coming out in March 2022. In this collection, we report on the impacts of the pandemic on young fathers and the services that support them.
The Covid Realities team say of findings and the new report:
“Families living on a low income are profoundly disadvantaged and Covid-19 has only made this worse. In this final report, we summarise the evidence from the multiple strands of the Covid Realities research programme, which documented the everyday experiences of families with children living on a low income during the pandemic across the UK.
This report collates this rich and diverse body of evidence, and shares recommendations for policy, practice, and also for future research. The evidence tells us quite clearly that our social security system and wider public services are failing to provide families on low incomes with adequate support.
Through Covid Realities, parents experiencing poverty during the pandemic came together, shared their experiences, and developed recommendations for change. People spoke of their hardship, but also of their eagerness to be part of making change happen. They wanted better, not only for themselves but for families in similar positions, and for future generations. This report sets out why and where change is needed.”
The study had five major findings:
1. Families have nothing else to cut.
2. The social security system is not doing its job.
3. Poverty and everyday hardship are negatively impacting mental health.
4. Policymaking and national conversations about poverty and social security can only be improved when we include the voices of those with lived experiences.
5. We can all do more to collaborate and connect with each other.