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News3 October 2022

Residents increasingly more concerned about their finances than in the height of the pandemic

Clarion has completed the fourth and final part of its longitudinal study tracking and understanding how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the lives of Clarion residents and their families.

Starting in Summer 2020, the same group of residents have been tracked over two and a half years. While their experience of the pandemic has varied depending on their personal circumstances and a great deal of resilience was seen, the negative impact of the pandemic was clearly felt more by some groups than others - highlighting even further existing societal inequalities. At the start of the pandemic we saw young people, women, and people with a disability were most negatively affected, having their work disrupted and finding it harder to cope with the pandemic.

However, as the country emerges from one crisis into another in the cost of living crisis, the latest survey shows that residents are feeling increasingly less optimistic about their finances than during the height of the pandemic. 37% said they only have enough money for essentials compared with 25% in May/June 2020. There is also an increasing pessimism among residents about their household’s future finances over the next six months - 24% indicating they were worried in winter 2020, rising to 37% in January 2022 - and 76% saying they felt worried about energy price rises.

Michelle Reynolds, Chief Customer Officer at Clarion, said:

“The pandemic was unlike anything we had experienced before and I am still heartened when I think of the unity we saw both in our communities and across the organisation. Clarion teams showed such dedication and professionalism in prioritising the wellbeing of our residents.

“It was important for us to track the impact of the pandemic on our residents’ lives so we could target our support most effectively and play a key role in recovery. Unfortunately, we have entered into another different crisis in the cost of living crisis, presenting continued challenges for our residents.

“We are well placed to support our residents through our charitable foundation, Clarion Futures. From money guidance to employment training, we want our residents to know they are not alone and help is available.”

Read the fourth and final part of Clarion’s longitudinal study.