In the summer former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney was ‘poster boy’ for our Key Workers – True Value campaign.
We’re highlighting respected people working for a fairer settlement and more resilient economy post Covid.
As BBC Reith Lecturer 2020* Mr Carney continues to argue the importance of fully understanding essential work. For him, that’s one of the gaps the pandemic has uncovered in work and society. In today’s 3rd Lecture, ‘From Covid Crisis to Renaissance’, he says:
“The Covid crisis has revealed deep strains in society. Essential workers have been undervalued. There’s a stark contrast between the solidarity in the crisis and these deep inequalities.”
For many weeks in the spring everyone clapped our NHS, social care staff and other key workers. Then we began to see what Mr Carney and all our witnesses see: we can’t ‘Build Back Better’ without properly recognising and rewarding key workers.
* How We Get What We Value, Mark Carney, BBC Radio 4, December 2020.