Coronavirus (COVID-19): roundup 13 July 2020

ONS have published new entries on multigenerational households, and households’ ability to cover a sudden loss of employment income. Some of the main points include:

• Most people in the UK aged 70 years and over either live alone (44%) or with just one other person (47%), but a small proportion live as part of a larger household with a mix of ages (this varies by ethnic group)

• People aged 70 years or over of Bangladeshi or Pakistani ethnicity are more likely to live in a multigenerational household than those of White ethnicity 

• Households where the head works in accommodation and food services, largely shut down since the end of March (67% of workforce furloughed), are least equipped to cope with a loss of income; 41% had insufficient financial assets (such as savings) to cover a 20% drop in employment income for three months

• Renting households are less likely than homeowners to have enough savings to cover a fall in employment income

Read the ONS roundup