Double-dip recession avoided?

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2020 economic slump

It’s official: the economy shrank by 9.9% last year according to the Office for National Statistics. It’s the biggest annual slump we’ve ever had. The economy did manage to stabilise in the last 3 months of 2020, meaning we’ll probably avoid a double-dip recession.

28 million vulnerable

Half of adults are now considered vulnerable* by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after coronavirus has put people’s lives under extra pressure. Vulnerable adults are those with a lot of debt, low levels of savings, poor health, or who have recently been through difficult life events. 28 million adults are now in this camp - up from 24 million in February 2020.

Bad bosses

1 in 5 workers are going into a workplace to do a job that could be done at home, according to a YouGov poll. 40% of those say their boss insists they show up in person. The Trades Union Congress has also found that many of those workers are under pressure from employers to go into offices.

Holiday refunds

Lastminute.com could be taken to court over its failure to pay out over £1 million worth of holiday refunds. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered the company to pay refunds to over 9,000 customers who had trips cancelled due to the pandemic - but 2,600 are still waiting for the cash.

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