Jobs particularly vulnerable to coronavirus impact in tourism hotspots
Jobs are particularly vulnerable to the impact of coronavirus in areas most dependant on hospitality and tourism, according to a thinktank, with up to one in three jobs at risk.
Richmondshire in North Yorkshire tops the list of areas set to be most affected, with 35% of jobs vulnerable owing to its large hospitality and tourism sectors.
That is according to the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), based on furloughing data published by the Office for National Statistics last week and the jobs profile for each local authority.
Eden in the Lake District and East Lindsey in Lincolnshire followed, with coastal and rural areas dominating the top 20 and many affluent areas, such as the Cotswolds, featured too.
According to the RSA, areas with the highest proportion of jobs in the knowledge economy are least at risk, particularly Oxford, Cambridge, London, and the capital's commuter belt. But even in these areas, around one in five jobs is rated ‘high-risk' based on the furloughing data.
To tackle this, the RSA is calling for a shift to a Universal Basic Income, with an initial payment of £48 per adult per week, funded largely by turning the personal allowance into a payment, and for personal learning accounts to give workers individual budgets to retrain.
Alan Lockey, head of the RSA Future Work Centre, said: "No part of the country is likely to be spared a severe recession, but those most dependent on hospitality and tourism will be particularly badly hit, especially rural areas.
"The government's response so far has been robust, but it must avoid going back to ‘business as usual' – including Universal Credit, sanctions and means-testing – if it's to avoid the devastating impact of prolonged unemployment on whole swathes of the population.
"Covid-19 only highlights the need for a welfare state that addresses the economic insecurity felt by growing numbers of people in the UK."
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