Covid and lockdowns have tipped some Sheffield people into destitution

Eleanor Rutter, a public health consultant at Sheffield Council, says many people were already struggling with pay freezes, unstable job contracts and austerity but Covid and repeated lockdowns has pushed them to a cliff edge.

There was a significant drop in people accessing financial support during lockdown, particularly disability benefits and debt advice.

But the demand is now increasing rapidly and is expected to rise by 30 per cent over the next few months.

Ms Rutter says in a report: “After ten years of austerity and welfare cuts, many people were already struggling before the pandemic leaving them with few resources to cushion the crisis.

“The pandemic has thrown many more people into financial difficulty and tipped those who were just about managing into poverty or in some cases outright destitution.

“There is a strong link between low income and ill health – certain groups have been disproportionately affected by the financial insecurity caused or exacerbated by the crisis.

“Poorer people and those in deprived communities have been hit hard, and we’ve seen many people newly entering the benefits system.

“The first wave of the pandemic may have passed, but the financial impacts are only just starting.”

The report says many people have not been able to afford to get online at a time when digital access is more crucial than ever.

Some people with complex, chaotic lives have suffered because telephone services are not the same as face-to-face support.

People who rely on cash who have struggled to buy essentials are more shops switched to cards and the pandemic left many increasingly vulnerable to crime and exploitation.

The report adds: “We expect people’s financial situation to get increasingly worse as creditors are able to start recovery action again, the job retention scheme is phased out and the economic recession hits.

“Solutions, particularly within the context of ten years of austerity, a continuing global pandemic and an increasing economic crisis, will never be straightforward.”

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