Covid-19 and Intergenerational Income Mobility in the UK

Covid-19 and Intergenerational Income Mobility in the UK

Economics

Xia Zhang

2023

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the world economy has entered a long period of recession, followed by a recent slow recovery. The UK economy experienced a sharp GDP growth rate contraction of 11 per cent in 2020, followed by consecutive positive growth in 2021 and
2022. However, On aggregate levels, the UK GDP has yet to return to the pre-pandemic level in 2019, suggesting that Covid's impact persists three years into the present. There is mounting evidence showing the negative impact of the pandemic is not shared equally
among all agents of the economy in the UK. The gross decline in income equality of different economic groups could have underlying implications for inequality of opportunities and economic mobility. Existing literature regarding the COVID-19 impact on the economy
primarily focuses on the labour market and income inequality. The pandemic impact on intergenerational mobility remains to be an under-studied area. This paper aims to analyse the impact of Covid on intergenerational income mobility in the UK. Their relationships will be
explored for both gender groups to capture gender inequality.