10% of those unemployed unable to tap most lucrative benefits

There has been a spike in the United Kingdom’s unemployment levels with latest data showing that more than 10 per cent of the workforce is out of a job.

In fact, the data revealed that most of these unemployed individuals are struggling to tap government benefits, thereby exposing economic scars being faced within the UK and the projections are that this situation is set to remain long after COVID-19 fades.

Standard Life Foundation, which campaigns for those on low and middle incomes reports that about 3.8 million people in the UK including actors and musicians in London’s famous theaters don’t qualify for the most lucrative welfare payments. These individuals have been left out because of strict rules that filter out self-employed individuals, contractors and people with patchy work histories.

Criticisms of the UK’s current safety net

As a result, criticisms have been leveled about the government’s safety net, which based on the exclusion of these individuals will leave millions of workers worse off even after Britain’s planned rapid vaccination programme allowing the society to reopen. Actors and people, who work in theaters are especially hard hit because many work a combination of freelance jobs or on short-term contracts.

Bloomberg reported that even the industry’s richest and most successful figures are worried, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer behind hit musicals including ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Cats’. It has been reported that Webber was forced to take out a mortgage on his house to help pay £1 million a month in bills coming in from seven of his theatres, which are earning no revenue during lockdown.

The case of Webber points to the evidence that the lack of support during the pandemic will force many out of the industry, thereby delivering a permanent blow to cultural institutions. According to Oxford Economics estimates, theaters could lose 26 per cent of their staff and £3 billion of revenue from the pandemic.

Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre in London, told Bloomberg that “tens of thousands of people have not earned a penny since March and of course its completely unsustainable…There’s a huge drain away from the industry.”

Six-week deadline for government to respond

Parliament has recognised these individuals have fallen through the cracks in the government’s welfare system with the Public Accounts Committee of the legislature in January giving the Boris Johnson government six weeks to explain why such a significant number of struggling taxpayers were not receiving any support at a time when companies are cutting tens of thousands of jobs each month. Speaking to the House of Commons last month, Johnson conceded that some groups have been “hard to reach and support in the way that we want”.

The problem is not only confined to the arts but an estimated three million self-employed people have missed out on government support, based on the findings of the British pressure group, ExcludedUK. The available data suggests that some seven million people in the U.K., or one in five employees are receiving furlough payments covering up to 80 per cent of their wages or unemployment benefits.

While those programmes have won praise for preventing a bigger spike in joblessness, there are millions more, who are left out fallen through the cracks in Britain’s welfare system. Critics of the programme are arguing for a revision, which will allow for people who have changed jobs, worked in part-time roles topped up with self-employment and those whose earnings have not been consistent.