Mapping and addressing COVID-19 regional inequalities using real-time spending data

Using real-time data John Gathergood, Fabian Gunzinger, Benedict Guttman-Kenney, Edika Quispe-Torreblanca, and Neil Stewart show the UK recovery in consumer spending in the second half of 2020 was geographically uneven, heavily weighted to the home counties around outer London and the South. These patterns were exacerbated during November 2020 when a second national lockdown was imposed. To prevent such COVID-19-driven regional inequalities from becoming persistent we propose the government introduces temporary, regionally-targeted interventions (e.g. business tax relief, travel vouchers, local government transfers) in 2021.