The London School of Economics and Political Science has published a report entitled ‘What can previous recessions tell us about the Covid-19 downturn?’. The report concludes that the COVID-19 recession is having a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable. The report creates a comprehensive measure using information on people with jobs who report working no hours to assess a “realistic” employment rate. They also compare the current pandemic-induced downturn with the three previous recessions – those of the early 1980s, the early 1990s and following the global financial crisis in the 2000s. They find that in all these episodes particular vulnerable groups of people were affected. But this recession has distinctive features with some groups being hit especially hard. The key findings are available here.
