Inside Labour | We need to think differently as unemployment spike puts millions at risk of hunger

Voices

The stark, frightening reality of the consequences of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the reactions to it are becoming increasingly obvious. And no more so than in the estimates for the rate of unemployment in a country already recognised the world’s worst in the jobless stakes.

An official level of 50% – half the adult population between the ages of 15 and 60 – being out of work is projected in some quarters. But whether it be a post Covid-19 three million or one million additional women and men losing their jobs is irrelevant: either way, the situation is critical.