This page contains data and analysis published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 30 March to 3 April 2020. Go to our live page for the most up-to-date insights on COVID-19.
2 April 2020
Covering a sudden loss of household income
Among the many consequences likely to arise from COVID-19 is a drop in household incomes, as businesses cannot operate in their usual manner.
Our new experimental statistics measure the extent to which financial assets can cover an income shock.
Based on information collected between April 2016 and March 2018, we found that 27% of employee-led households did not have enough savings to cover a 25% reduction in employment income for three months, and this figure rose to 46% for a 75% reduction for the same duration.
Certain types of household were less financially resilient, with the 16- to 34-year-old group the least likely to have enough savings to cover an adverse income shock. For people in this age bracket, 60% of employee-led households did not have enough savings to cover a 75% income reduction.
Households headed by the youngest age band (16 to 34 years) were less likely to have sufficient financial funds to cover a drop in household employment income
Proportion of households with sufficient formal financial assets to cover a three-month drop in household employment income of 25%, 50%, 75%, by employment type and age of household head, Great Britain, April 2016 to March 2018
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Older age groups were more resilient, as were households with a self-employed head, where 76% were able to cover a 25% reduction in income for three months.
Alongside is an article on attitudes towards financial security – more than one-quarter (26%) of adults said they would not be able to make ends meet for longer than a month if they lost their main source of income.
30 March 2020
Working parents
Now that schools and nurseries are closed to the majority of children because of COVID-19, millions of parents are having to balance full-time childcaring responsibilities with their paid work.
There are just under 4.6 million households (22%) in the UK with dependent children under 16 years where all parents are working. Around 842,000 of these are lone parent households, while the remaining 3.7 million are couple households.
Over one million lone and couple parents with dependent children under 16 work in the education industry. A further 720,000 work in the human health industry, and 581,000 in public administration, defence and social security.
User requested data
We have been responding to data requests from the public, media and government during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Responses are published in our list of user requested data.
Recent requests for data cover topics such as people with long-term health conditions, those on zero-hours contracts and older people receiving practical help from family members. Some of the main insights include:
- almost 38% of adults aged 16 years and over reported some kind of long-term health condition in 2019 (18.9 million people)
- two-thirds (66%) of over-65s have a long-term health condition, equivalent to 30% of the total
- of those aged 70 years and over in the UK, 15% live with someone of working age (16 to State Pension age); the highest rates are in the London boroughs of Lambeth (45%), Brent (44%) and Newham (40%)
- under normal circumstances, 14% of over-70s in England receive help from a family member living in their household with tasks such as getting in and out of bed or shopping for food
- between October and December 2019, 974,000 people were on a zero-hours contract, with 23% of these working in hotels and restaurants