By Hazel Eddleston-Lee
Since the coronavirus pandemic broke out and the UK went into lockdown on March 23rd, we’ve seen life as we know it change drastically in front of our eyes, with no one having much notice to adjust or prepare.
The whole country has seen huge changes to their lives as the coronavirus pandemic worsened. Close to one million people applied for benefits in just two weeks at the end of March and struggling companies and self-employed workers have been offered financial help by the government.
We look at who’s been affected and what this means for their career and income.
Key Worker
Deandre Hinds, 32, is a customer service operative for Transport for London who has continued to work throughout the pandemic. He says it’s been “lonely and caused a lot of paranoia at stations for myself and colleagues but I’m grateful to not have the worry of losing my income.”
TfL have been put under incredible pressure as they work on the frontline supporting other essential workers to get to work, and although precautions are in place to protect staff, more and more employees are beginning to trickle back to work.
“It seemed to come from nowhere, managers didn’t get notice to prepare for it so we were taken by surprise, we were thrown into the deep end straight away and seeing the panic happening around us was a bit scary,” Hinds explained.
“Due to the social distancing we’ve had reduced staff, we haven’t been allowed any social interaction with colleagues and we have to eat lunch alone in a secure area.”
Self Employed
For the first time in ten years, Sai Jhite, a thirty-year-old self-employed make-up artist from Hendon, has been unable to work.
“Covid 19 has turned my world upside down! This is usually the biggest time of the year for me with wedding bookings usually back to back, all my bookings have been cancelled until we know what’s going on,” she said.
The government have confirmed that if you are self-employed you can receive a taxable grant of up to 80% of your average monthly profits over the past three years – up to a cap of £2,500 per month. “My business is my livelihood and although I can get Universal Credit or a grant it won’t cover what I would have made and my outgoings remain the same.
“So it is worrying although anything is better than nothing.”
Working from Home
Unlike many people, Holly Eddleston-Lee, a 25-year-old document controller who works for a large construction company, has still been able to continue work from home, which a lot of employees have been asked to do since the pandemic.
Eddleston-Lee said that although it is a blessing to remain in work and have her usual income, working alongside home schooling is not the best set up.
“I’m lucky as I am used to working from home and do it quite regularly, it is difficult trying to juggle home schooling and the several Zoom calls I need to do daily,” she said.
Employers and employees alike are now facing the challenge of juggling work, childcare and home schooling with millions now working from home and having to bring the team meetings to your home, by the end of March, the Zoom platform had reached 200 million daily users, up 1,900% from its previous best of 10 million.
Furloughed
Phakimile Shange, a thirty-year-old sales manager for a FinTech company, was furloughed the same day the lockdown started. She is concerned that redundancy would not be far behind if the lockdown didn’t stop soon.
“I was and still am petrified. I have a mortgage, a car on finance and several other outgoings and contractual agreements, and not knowing what’s going to happen, not knowing what my income will be like in the future is daunting to say the least,” she said.
More than eight million workers have been furloughed since March, at a cost of billions of pounds to the government. The scheme has been backdated to March and will last until October but this doesn’t give any assurance that work will resume or be the same for many companies at that point.
It’s safe to say, that whatever you do, wherever you work, you have likely been impacted financially by the pandemic and that you are not alone in worry, loss or stress. Which is why it’s important to look after ourselves and be aware of our mental health. Here is what we can all easily do to keep our spirits high in these low times…
- Practice self-care
Most of us have lost our usual routine and so it’s very easy to slip into eating junk food, sleeping late, not exercising and staying in our pyjamas all day.
Without realising this can make you feel lethargic and depressed. Simple tasks like getting up in the morning, doing a 10-minute exercise routine and then getting showered and dressed can change really change your mood and how you feel for the rest of the day
Several celebrities are doing FREE workouts on their Instagram lives, check out Joe Wicks on his YouTube channel Monday to Friday at 9am.
- Keep in contact
Self-distancing and self-isolating means that many of us are spending a lot of time alone and not getting to see our nearest and dearest. This, of course, can make us feel incredibly depressed. Set up a buddy group and utilise the various apps which allow us to speak with our friends and family face-to-face through our devices. Or even just schedule a call in with a member of your family or friends each day to have that human interaction!
- Be kind to yourself
It’s okay to feel low, it’s okay to feel stressed or uneasy at this time, you’re not alone in that. Don’t beat yourself up if you do have a bad day, remind yourself that things will be okay, tell yourself that “what I’m doing is enough”. Be kind to yourself! It can really help writing down some empowering mantras and saying them loudly to yourself.
- Ask for help
The mental health charity Mind has some helpful and useful tips to support our mental health. The Samaritans also offer a free call service dial from any UK phone – just dial 116 123.
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