You report (27 August) that the government is piloting payments of £13 a day – equivalent to £91 a week – to those who cannot work from home yet need to isolate because they have been in contact with people who have tested positive. Do ministers have any idea what it would like to live on just £13 a day for up to two weeks?
Low-income families are more likely to have debts than savings and so have nothing to cushion them through a quarantine period. If they need to borrow money to get by, they will incur heavy interest charges.
At the very least, both for the welfare of those affected and to encourage their compliance with the restrictions expected of them, the government should be offering them the living wage – £9.30 an hour, or £10.75 an hour in London. For a 40-hour working week, that’s £372 a week, or £430 in London.
Several hundred million pounds have been put into the “eat out to help out” scheme, which has largely been taken advantage of, I guess, by people who can afford to pay the full price of their meal. We need to see similar generosity to those on low incomes, whom society requires to self-isolate to stop the spread of Covid-19.
John Boaler
Calne, Wiltshire
