Older people from ethnic minorities hard hit by pandemic and lockdown

This group entered the pandemic at a disadvantage due to pre-existing inequalities in housing, health, employment and income. Some older ethnic minority people were also particularly hard hit by lockdown and restrictions on social mixing.

The ‘digital divide’ can stop some older ethnic minority people from easily accessing reliable information about public health. Training and resources to address this divide could help, if they are properly targeted.

Language barriers were an additional issue for some people in the study, with important information and messages sometimes only provided in English.

Older ethnic minority people were more likely to rely on community and voluntary groups to provide support and advice, and lessen the impact of the digital divide and language barriers. But restrictions on social contact meant that often these lifelines were removed at exactly the point they were most needed.

Read the briefing in full:

• Ethnic Minority Older People, Histories of Structural Racism and the COVID-19 Pandemic

You can also hear the authors of this briefing and an expert panel discuss the research at our free online event:

• 'Marginalised Voices: The Impact of Covid on Older Ethnic Minority People' Eventbrite page - takes place at 2pm on Monday, 6 December 2021. Please register for a free place to receive instructions on how to join.

The briefing is produced by The Runnymede Trust and the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) and authored by Jenny Hewitt and Dharmi Kapadia. 

This briefing is part of a series which explores the impact of the pandemic on people from ethnic minority groups. Find out more:

• Covid briefings