There is increasing concern that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in England. Over the first few weeks of the pandemic there were several anecdotal reports to suggest that there are many more cases of, hospitalisations for, and deaths due to COVID-19 than we would expect from minorities’ population shares. Drawing on new IFS research, the panel will discuss the reasons why mortality is disproportionately high for minority groups, present evidence on how some minority groups are disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of the lockdown, and recommend ways forward to limit further differential social and economic consequences.

Kehinde Andrews (@kehinde_andrews) is Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University. Kehinde is an academic, activist and author whose books include Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century. His first book was Resisting Racism: Race, Inequality and the Black Supplementary School Movement.

Miqdad Asaria (@miqedup) is a health economist with extensive experience in both academic and policy making settings. His research interests include health inequalities and health financing. His research in the COVID-19 space relates to the disproportionate effect among the BAME community.

Lucinda Platt (@PlattLucinda) is Professor of Social Policy and Sociology in the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on inequalities, particularly those relating to ethnicity and migration, gender and disability, and she has published widely in those areas. She is a panel member of the IFS Deaton Inequality Review. 

Ross Warwick is a Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and is contributing to the IFS Deaton Inequality Review. He joined the IFS in 2016 and works in the Centre for Tax Analysis in Developing Countries.

Heidi Safia Mirza (@HeidiMirza) is Emeritus Professor of Equalities Studies, UCL Institute of Education and Visiting Professor of Race, Faith and Culture at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. She is known for her pioneering intersectional research on race, gender and identity in education. A daughter of the Windrush generation and one of the first women of colour professors in Britain, Heidi is a leading voice in the global debate on decolonisation and co-edited the flagship book, ‘Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy’. She is currently co-authoring ‘Race and Ethnicity’ for the IFS Deaton Inequality Review which includes the impact of COVID-19 on Black and minority ethnic communities.

Armine Ishkanian (@Armish15) is Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme at the International Inequalities Institute and Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy. 

This event is part of LSE's public event series - COVID-19: The Policy Response.

COVID-19 represents an enormous challenge for the social sciences to help governments and non-governmental organisations respond to the economic and societal consequences of the pandemic. Part of LSE's response to this challenge is a series of online public events that will take place over the Summer Term.

Why not visit the School of Public Policy COVID-19 Resource Centre.

This event in the series has been organised by the Department of Health Policy and the Department of Social Policy.

The Department of Health Policy (@LSEHealthPolicy) trains and inspires people passionate about health by advancing and challenging their understanding of health systems and the social, economic and political contexts in which they operate.

The Department of Social Policy (@LSESocialPolicy) provides top quality international and multidisciplinary research and teaching on social and public policy challenges facing countries across the world.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19

Podcasts and Videos

A podcast of this event is available to download from COVID-19: the impact on the UK's ethnic minority populations.

A video of this event is available to watch at COVID-19: the impact on the UK's ethnic minority populations.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.