How the UK handled unemployment during COVID19?
A job is important. The highest unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was in 1984 with an average of 6.9% unemployed in 1971 that surged to 12% in February of 1984. As the pandemic continues to pose health hazards that place a lot of businesses at risk of closure. The unemployment rate in the UK also rose. The unemployment rate grew to 4.5% in the three months to August, compared with 4.1% in the previous quarter. Moreover, the most affected in this crisis were the younger people according to Jonathan Athow, the Office of the National Satistics’s deputy national statistician for economic statistics. The figures are expected to surge higher due to tougher local restrictions to combat the spread of the COVID19.
As unemployment is being tackled. The UK government has still been able to keep its unemployment rate from skyrocketing during the pandemic. How?
- The first month of the outbreak in the UK back in March, the government has imposed shops, restaurants, and other businesses to stop operations. In line with this rule, the government allowed companies to apply for a furlough program that would cover 80% of an employee’s wages in the UK.
- The UK government also introduced new training options in an effort to boost productivity and tackle unemployment to help the country recover from the aftermath of the pandemic. This support includes funding to help adults without qualifications to enroll in certain educational courses for free, as well as flexible loans allowing people to space out their studies and transfer credits between institutions.
- There is also a new Job Support Scheme that will start its operation on 1 November 2020. The scheme for those businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to COVID19.
