Young people worry more than any other age group that coronavirus will impact their finances, the unemployment rate and wages in the long-term
Two thirds of Brits now believe coronavirus will do long-lasting damage to the UK economy, but the figures are especially high among younger people.
Seven in ten 18- to 24-year-olds worry that the coronavirus will harm the job market and cause higher unemployment for a long time. This figure drops for every subsequent age group. People aged 65 and older are the least anxious with just over half sharing the concern.
Over half of younger Brits (54%) also believe the pandemic will affect wages in the long term compared with only 43% of people who are 50 years and older.
In fact, the only issue a similar number of people across age groups are concerned about is inflation. Two in five Brits worry coronavirus will have a lasting impact on prices in shops.
Brits are getting more worried about how coronavirus will impact the economy
The number of people worried that coronavirus will cause long-term unemployment jumped from 26% to 62% in a week on Friday. Similarly, two thirds of Brits now believe there will be lasting damage to the economy – up from 36% a week earlier.
The public are also getting more anxious about their own finances. A third of Britons believe coronavirus will harm their household finances in the long haul – over twice as many as week earlier (14%) - while 44% say it will do short-term damage.
The figures rose after a week in which the Bank of England slashed interest rates to their lowest ever level, the Treasury announced a rescue package of £330 billion and pubs and restaurants were told to close indefinitely.
Conservative voters are less worried about the economy
There’s a clear split along party lines of how voters believe the coronavirus impact the economy. While 79% of Lib Dem and 73% of Labour supporters expect it to have long-term impacts, the figure is noticeably lower for Tory voters at 59%.
Similarly, most Labour (74%) and Lib Dem (71%) voters believe it will depress the labour market compared with just over half of Conservative supporters.
When it comes to personal finances, a roughly similar number of Tory (30%), Lib Dem (34%) and Labour (35%) voters say they think it will set them back in the long-term.
Photo: Getty
