Pandemic threatens the United Kingdom’s lowest-income earners the most

Visual form

Choropleth Map: paired UK regional maps comparing hourly pay with jobs at risk.

Layout / body structure

The visual places two UK regional maps side by side. The left choropleth maps median gross hourly pay, and the right choropleth maps jobs at risk as a share of 2019 employment, using the same geography for direct comparison.

What is being compared

It compares regional income levels with pandemic labor-market vulnerability across the United Kingdom. The reader can see whether lower-pay areas overlap with areas where a larger share of jobs is at risk.

Measurement system

Median gross hourly pay is measured in pounds per hour, with the map scale running from roughly 10 to 20 pounds. Jobs at risk are measured as percent of total regional employment, with the risk scale running from roughly 18 percent to 28 percent.

Visible structure inside the graphic

The two maps are aligned so regional patterns can be compared visually. Lower-pay regions on the left tend to correspond with higher-risk regions on the right, while London and parts of the southeast stand apart from many other areas.

Main takeaway from the visual

The pandemic’s employment risk was geographically unequal in the United Kingdom. Regions with lower earnings also carried greater job-risk exposure, making the lowest-income places especially vulnerable.

Key standout values or extremes

The page states that about 24 percent of UK jobs were at risk, with the most vulnerable workers concentrated in the country’s 20 lowest-income subregions. The map scales frame the extremes at about 10 pounds per hour on pay and about 28 percent of employment at risk.

Controls / sequence, when applicable

This is a static pair of choropleth maps; there are no in-chart controls to operate.

Companion media, when applicable

There is no separate companion audio or video; the paired choropleth maps are the full visual on this page.