Economics of the Crisis - Inequalities and the Pandemic [Head Start in A-Level Economics]

In this fifth lesson covering aspects of the economics of the coronavirus pandemic, we have three videos covering aspects of inequalities. We have also added in a quiz and some suggestions for further reading and research on this important topic.

Quiz!

You might want to start - as we do in our live class - by trying this Kahoot! quiz on income and wealth inequality. Click this link to access the Kahoot! quiz

The famous introduction to Newsnight by Emily Maitlis is also worth a watch before you work through our videos since she raises a number of very important issues connected to the pandemic and the impact it is likely to have on society. Some of these are covered in our third video.

Video 1: Income and Wealth

In this video we look at the difference between income and wealth and consider those jobs in the UK that are very low paid contrasted with the highest earning occupations.

Video 2: Inequalities

The concept of inequalities is introduced in this second video including two commonly-used measures of inequality - the Gini coefficient and the Palma Ratio

Video 3: Inequalities and the Pandemic

In this video we consider the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis will widen existing economic and social inequalities?

Background reading and research

New research on the impact of the pandemic suggests that blue collar workers in the UK have been at a much higher risk of getting infected by the coronavirus.

Read: Male blue-collar workers ‘twice as likely to die from Covid-19’

See also this article from the Guardian:

Inequality doesn't just make pandemics worse – it could cause them (Laura Spinney)

IMF Blog: How Pandemics Leave the Poor Even Farther Behind (May 2020)

Why are minorities so hard hit by Covid-19? (Saloni Dattani is a PhD student in psychiatric genetics at King's College London.) This is an important article.

Key concepts used in the video

You might want to check and test your understanding of some of the key concepts used in this lesson on income and wealth inequality by using this Quizlet Revision activity.

Professor Angus Deaton launches his new five year study into inequalities.