The fatal burden of inequality

The fatal burden of inequality: why are certain groups more affected in this pandemic, and what to do about it?

Event Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has served both to expose and exacerbate already longstanding inequalities. The risks of infection, severe disease and death are not equally distributed in the population – rather, a very familiar pattern is emerging whereby different forms of socioeconomic disadvantage – e.g. overcrowded housing, precarious employment, poverty, worse access to health care – put some population groups at significantly higher risk of disease and death in the pandemic. Some of the hardships affecting the poor can be mitigated through policies such as furlough schemes, income support and other forms of social safety nets. However, different countries differ in their ability and willingness to implement such policies.

This session is dedicated to examining how underlying socioeconomic inequalities have played out in the pandemic to compound social disadvantage. What could have been done differently to mitigate the increased risk and hardships of disadvantaged groups? Was this unequal impact an inevitable consequence of deep structural inequalities?