To think that financially, Covid hasn't changed much for many people.

[blueblueblue101]

I keep hearing that we are in a recession that will be the longest and deepest in history. Yet when I look around, no one seems to be financially hit. Plenty of people going out for their meal out to help out. People still able to afford holidays. No one around me has been made redundant and no one I know seems to be remotely concerned about what the future holds in regards to finances Meanwhile, I am eaten up with worry that we'll lose our jobs our home etc.

I've been made redundant. My husband won't get a bonus this year. That mean our household income has dropped by 50% until I can find a new position. I had a corporate head office job and a master's degree.

People who can work from home are mostly okay for the moment, but as retail, hospitality, training, travel, and the arts shrink, it shrinks the whole economy. As the whole economy shrinks companies have to retrench. My company laid off 10% of their workforce. I worked on special projects. No more money for special projects.

think many people have realised that they are better off buying now whilst they still can than waiting and getting stuck later on for god knows how long.

That may be it but if the recession is going to be as bad as some people predict, then there is a big risk of negative equity. I know a lot of lenders have pulled their 5 and 10% deposit mortgages and are no longer taking into account overtime, commission and bonuses when working out how much to lend - which indicates that they are expecting 10% drops in house prices.

Well as long as you are OK, that's the main thing isn't it?! There are three houses in my mum and dads very naice middle class suburban street they have gone up for sale this week. Because the people who own them are out of work and can't afford their naice big house any more.

DH and I are both fortunate enough to be working in the public sector, but we have seen lots of people struggling already. Our Childminder has lost a lot of customers and it was only us still paying her the full amount back in April.

A lot of places near us are doing OK at the moment with school holidays, half price meals and nice weather. Come winter, they will all be screwed.

I'm in another country and at the moment it's crazy. We are completely overrun with tourists and people are spending as if there is no tomorrow. Maybe they are doing exactly that because they want to enjoy themselves before they have serious financial problems. Or they have a lot of savings or pretty secure jobs eg. healthcare professionals, teachers etc.

I have earned (self-employed) ca. 400 Euros since the end of June. Bloody fantastic. I am living on savings at the moment.
In my circle of friends and acquaintances (mostly freelance musicians) everybody is in serious difficulties. We are starting to get a bit of work coming in now but it's next to nothing and I fear that in winter all events will be cancelled again and of course there will be no outdoor events when it is bloody freezing.

I don't think people believe it will happen to them OP, you hear people saying well my/dh job is safe, there's no such thing.
We are all at risk, but some just carry on as if they weren't. There's no need to be bitter OP, it's pity they need because they'll regret the spending when their homes are repossessed and they are in a grotty B&B.
It happened to my dsis in the 90's recession, both her and her dh were big consumers.

That right there is the problem - just because it’s not affecting anyone in your immediate circle of friends doesn’t mean it’s not real.

Very true, but it's exactly the same as the many threads where people try to imply that the whole crisis is overblown because no one they know is sick, or they personally don't grasp the consequences of exponential growth.

How many of those have we had?

I am self empolyed and haven't earned anything since March. Should be starting back in September but it has been a tough time. The self employed grant helped a little but due to two lots of maternity leave in the qualfying period it didn't even touch the sides of my outgoings.
I have lost over £1000 a month.

@blueblueblue2020 I'm so sorry - I must have read your post too quickly so shouldn't have written what I did . I'm a bit stressed today about something. I'm usually better than this but am having an off day 💐

Two friends of mine have been made redundant. One is now back to work a little bit ( self employed) but loads of debts. Ds1 has friends that are now out of work ( leisure industry)
Another friend's dh was laid off and his getting nowhere finding a job because of his age and he would have to commute too, so people won't hire him. She had a business that stopped overnight because of lockdown. Another friends son had had to claim UC as his fallen through the cracks for any help from the govt as his self employed ( not a dividend reason , just other reasons)
My niece's dh was laid off for months and they had to live on savings they had saved towards their own place ( currently renting) That's now gone by the board of course.
It's been ok for a few people I know , but mostly it's been pretty rough for all ages and work situations and will get worse I'm sure.

@blueblueblue101 sorry my last post was meant for you.

Freelance , not worked since early March. Not entitled to any government support (SEISS/Bounce back loans/local grants etc). Not entitled to UC. Millions in this situation. www.excludeduk.org/excluded-uk-an-inclusive-alliance-for-the-excluded

Can’t work as I’ve limited childcare and physical difficulties which means the work available is mainly unfeasible for me. I’ve applied for a few jobs but not heard anything back.

Had my adult two children at home rather than travelling/uni and neither could get any work (rare to even hear back ). Both furloughed from their very part time jobs.

I have one day freelance for September, hoping more to come.

I'm so sorry for all those having such a terrible time.

Im sad to say redundancies haven't even really started yet. I work for a very large household name that will see huge redundancies over the next 2-3 months, no media coverage yet. Going to get very much worse before it gets better I'm sad to say.

And it's not just economic reasons, friends have lost jobs in sectors that have been very profitable throughout lockdown where the company profits have soared (supermarkets, media, utilities). Its being used as an easy excuse as you just can't argue it!

It's not scaremongering, it's the reality.

Both OH & I work for a branch of the civil service doesn't make people compulsorily redundant. I specifically applied for a civil service job and have stayed for 16 years because of the job security.

Excellent post by @Yoloyohol on the top of page 5.

For those still piling in on the OP - do go back and read her follow up post on P4.

No, she didn't word her title, nor opening post well, but has come back and added to it.

I am aware of so many who work in retail, hospitality, music, theatre who have lost their jobs. Many haven't been able to get (enough) furlough as they are on zero hours contracts or 8 hours contracts, but used to work a LOT more. Some are self employed, but don't have years of accounts to show as have recently started up.
Some have just graduated, and there is nothing out there even to apply for, let alone have a chance of getting. Then all the people that were employed full time - there are 5 businesses on my High Street alone that have closed, so all of their employees have been made redundant (and that is just a suburb, not a City Centre High Street).

I'm also aware, that I have no idea of the finances of 999% of people I know - it's not something you tend to discuss with neighbours, colleagues, or even friends or family, on the whole.

On R4 a few minutes ago, they were talking about this. One of the "experts" interviewed said that there are 7.5m people currently on fulough, and a lot of them are actually redundant, they just don't know it yet.

He went on to say that even if only 10% of them are made redundant, that's three-quarters of a million more unemployed people. Unemployment has been at a little over a million for a few years now, so this would represent a 75% increase. That's massive.

If redundancies among the furloughed are 20%, that would take unemployment to over 2.5m, the sort of figures we haven't seen since early 80s or 90s.

But of course, those of us fortunate enough to still be working, all we're seeing is a rise in the cost of our shopping bills. And many of us WFH are actually better off.

I'm in the same boat Drs self-employed income went to zero in March as Sn child and no school available but no help available as started 1.5 years ago and yes there's a lot of us, mostly affected from March.

In the private sector it seems to be starting to hit a lot more now in terms of redundancies with furlough ending - DHs firm have already made 50 redundant with more to come.

Don't know anyone affected financially in public sector - some are better off with no childcare costs and no commuting but full pay still - though would imagine lower taxes will feed through.

Op I think that's a bit too much of a sweeping statement.
I was made redundant in May due to Covid and know 2 others who were also.
I've recently found a new job but because DD's school weren't allowing her year back and lack of childcare available I've only been able to work part time. I'm also a single parent.
Financially I've been hit really hard

DH was furloughed for months and then made redundant.

I had to give ds3's CM notice, as has at least one other family she worked with, and none of her mindees who are still with her are going full time.

Everyone I know who is self employed has pretty much hit a wall.

Everyone I know who was wfh or furloughed saw significant increases in living costs due to everyone being home all the time.

And there are many, many more redundancies to come, along with a possible resurgence in covid cases in winter and a likely no deal Brexit. People who think their comfortable lives are safe should think again.

Actually, later this year my family unit won't be able to be so generous with the biscuits so I take them back and here,

WAKE UP - THERE'S GOING TO BE MASS REDUNDANCIES ONCE THE FURLOUGH SCHEME ENDS. Some people don't stop spending until the money stops coming in and it'll be like a second spike to the recessionary data.

*People who think their comfortable lives are safe should think again

Why does it sound like the thought pleases you?

One of the things I've learnt most over the last couple of years, is the degree to which people live in their own little bubbles and are scarily unaware of things beyond that.

On top of that I am finding that a lot of people who are having problems are being very quiet about it, and aren't sharing the information. There are a lot more people badly affected than you realise. There's a certain sense of shame about losing your job.

On the flip to that I also know a lot of people who are comfortably off and haven't spent as much as usual. They also have their cancelled holiday money. Some are trying to actively spend it, to help keep businesses afloat or simply because they can. So to an extent this is offsetting others having no money.

We also have a situation where a lot of people are still getting money from furlough, but as the scheme is ended many will find themselves without a job. We have a block on evictions from rented accomodation at present - we will see a massive problem emerging from this, with lots of people evicted for non-payment when this ends or lots of landlords facing financial ruin if they are unable to evict if the scheme is extended.

And we have the end of the EU exit transition to look forward to. I'm just reading up on this. Did you know that if you have a pre-existing medical condition, you are currently covered for health care treatment in the EU, but come 1st Jan, you won't so will need much more extensive (expensive) holiday insurance? That'll be fun and will bring a few more chickens home to roost. Less people are going to be able to travel abroad.

The problem is that covid has and will continue to exaccerbate inequality and the financial divide between those who have money and those who don't. This, combined with Brexit, is going to lead to a huge unravelling of the economy particularly in certain sectors. It is going to be slow at first, but will begin to unravel at some pace come October.

Christmas is going to be really grim for a lot of people. New Year will be worse.

This is my optimistic position. You don't want to know the less optimistic version.

@SantaClaritaDiet

I hate it when people post like this. I think it's scare mongering to the highest degree. Lots of people on here will be working for big companies

People are adults, it's pretty obvious the shit is about to hit the fan, but things haven't changed (or have improved) for many people for now.

If you want to hide your head in the sand, it's your right, but you can't expect people to lie and pretend the economy is on the way to a huge and blissful bloom.

I'm not hiding my head in the sand though am I? You have absolutely NO idea of how covid has affected me or my family, bit you just carry on making assumptions.

It is scare mongering to say a company is going to make huge huge cuts, but then no mention of the company (obviously) and then making people feel even more worried and anxious!!!!!

This has hit people in unimaginable ways, because the economy had been relatively stable in 2019 and nobody saw it coming - who would have known ... what were those famous immortal words not so long before this all kicked off ... "we are no longer in austerity"....

No specific data on this, but speculating that people of the middle-income bracket are currently having to dip into savings, that rainy-day fund people put money away for has suddenly become a reality now. So it isn't yet noticeable because people do have money but they'll be looking for work now, so they don't deplete themselves of cash.

There are of course winners and losers in terms of Industries

Losers

• Travel/airlines
• Some hotels especially in overseas tourist destinations
• Performing Arts
• Fashion
• Gyms, Bowling alleys, cinema chains
• Restaurants currently provide quite an impoverished experience with significantly reduced covers to be Covid safe.
• beauty including dental services

Winners

• supermarkets
• Bike manufacturers and repair services (my friend has his own cycle repair business and was busier in lockdown than normal)
• tech companies offering online connectivity eg Zoom, webex, Skype
• training companies with foresight to have already had an online learning strategy in place have done very well - I've done several online courses during lockdown, and the trainers were excellent at delivering teaching online
• arts and crafts suppliers
• books and toys keeping children occupied in lockdown

It is scare mongering to say a company is going to make huge huge cuts, but then no mention of the company (obviously) and then making people feel even more worried and anxious!!!!!

It’s not scare mongering, it’s recounting personal experiences.
DH’s large company is making 2000 redundancies in September. It’s not scare mongering to mention that on a thread about redundancies. It’s just fact.

Not seeing an impact in your immediate circle, does not mean there has been no impact. It means you and those you know are lucky.

So many people have lost their jobs or are living on a reduced wage. Businesses have closed for months. I haven't been able to work since March. I really hope the economic impact isnt as bad as feared but if you look past your own situation, you will see that many people are in a really bad way.