Workers tolerate dangerous conditions during crisis for fear of losing jobs and income.
More than 100,000 NHS staff in England, about half the women working as full-time carers, and 25% of the teaching force are putting their lives at risk during the crisis despite not earning enough to have the right to a family life in the UK, a report has found.
The same immigration rule on income requirements also means that many key workers feel forced to work in dangerous conditions for fear of losing their jobs, which would cause their income to fall below the required levels and their family to be broken apart.
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), which produced the Families on the Frontline report, said it had received a huge surge in enquiries from more than 7,000 families desperately worried about how they will stay together during the crisis.
Under rules introduced in 2012, British citizens and other UK permanent residents with a partner from outside Europe must earn at least £18,600 a year to build a life together in the UK.
Even before the pandemic hit, more than 40% of people across the UK were already earning less than £18,600 a year. “As the full economic impact of this global crisis begins to be felt, this proportion is likely to rise to unprecedented levels, with many more people out of work or in insecure and low-paid work,” said Mary Atkinson, the Families Together campaign officer at JCWI, which is calling for an immediate suspension and repeal of the minimum income requirement.
“The Home Office has so far refused to give these families the certainty they need, by dropping the income rule during this emergency,” she said. “Yet many of those who are priced out of a family life are the very key workers whose essential work during the Covid-19 pandemic is rightly applauded.”
More than 100,000 NHS staff in England and about half of women who work full-time in the care industry earn less than £18,600 a year. The median annual salary for women working part-time in the care industry was just £10,603 in 2019.
Salma, a care worker, has lived in the UK with her British husband, Ahmed, for two years. They will need to apply to renew her visa in a few months, so she can stay here with her husband and their young child.
Ahmed usually works full-time and earns £18,000, while she works part-time providing essential care for young adults with physical disabilities. They say they live in fear of their income dropping during the pandemic.
“The protection at my work is far from adequate,” said Salma. “My employer doesnt provide face masks, despite the intimate care I provide for my clients, but I dont feel able to complain because my situation is so precarious.
“If the worst happens and I do get the virus, Ill have to face not just a deadly disease, but also the prospect of being separated from my family because of the drop in income,” she added. “Im scared to go to work. Im risking my life every day to work with inadequate protection. Its a violation of our human right to a family.”
READ MORE FROM SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/07/migrant-key-workers-fear-income-falling-below-home-office-minimum
