The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Thurrock at the end of last year was more than double that seen at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, figures reveal. Office for National Statistics data shows 7,630 people were claiming out-of-work benefits as of December 10, compared to just 3,610 in early March – an increase of 4,020. That is 7% of the area s working-age population, up from 3.3%. The figures include those aged 16 to 64 on Jobseeker’s Allowance and some Universal Credit claimants, who are unemployed and seeking work or employed but with low earnings. In December 2019, there were 3,285 claimants in Thurrock. Those on benefits at the end of 2020 were among roughly 205,000 across the East of England.
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Ministers urged to do homework to stop school closures turning into a skills crisis
The economic cost of lost learning is measured in the billions as experts voice fears of longer term repercussions
10 January 2021 • 5:00am
Spare a thought for Blackpool councillor Kath Benson, who has the unenviable brief of overseeing schools in one of the country’s most deprived areas.
“We’re all working at a hundred miles an hour and there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” she says.
Millions of families across the country are in the early stages of a stressful six weeks or more of home learning, and the challenge will be no greater than in Blackpool, where more than a quarter of children live in low-income families.
‘Army of tutors needed’ to ease damage of lost school learning £350m for the NTP is not enough - you could multiply that by 10 says the University of Bristol’s Simon Burgess
9 January 2021 • 8:00pm
Britain needs to massively expand its army of tutors to stave off the long-term economic damage of Covid-19 from lost learning, education experts have warned.
The £350m National Tutoring programme (NTP), targeted to reach up to 250,000 children hit by school closures, was unveiled last summer and then extended into the 2021-22 academic year last month without any additional funding.
Under the programme schools can apply for taxpayer-subsidised tuition, but the University of Bristol’s Simon Burgess, a leading education economist said: “£350m for the NTP is not enough - you could multiply that by 10.”
How COVID-19 Exposed The Hard Questions About The Gig Economy A food delivery worker in London - Oliver Cole 2020-12-24
Consumers are convinced. Wall Street is buoyant. Demand around the world for app-based services is booming, with entire nations stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdowns and the prospect of goods and services at their door with just a click. As the so-called Gig Economy spreads alongside the pandemic, society has struggled to keep up.
• Online sales in
South Korea have grown by 17% this year, and 42% in food deliveries.
• The freelancer platform PeoplePerHour registered a 300% increase of users in March of this year in the