Create an emergency fund to support freelancers with Coronavirus income loss
From Change.org.
The government should create a Temporary Income Protection Fund to support freelancers through the Coronavirus crisis. The idea is for a time-limited, targeted injection of funds to keep businesses afloat over the coming months and cover basic income costs like food and rent.
Coronavirus is not only a health crisis, but an economic crisis too, and one that is likely to hit the smallest businesses – the self-employed – hardest. Freelancers will not just lose income while they are ill or self-isolating: many are also losing work and contracts over the coming months. The Budget measures give some support, but not enough. There is also a risk that the Business Interruption Loans will leave many freelancers with a mountain of debt. They urgently need more support.