Covid-19 has transformed the welfare state. Which changes will endure?

“SUDDENLY EVERYTHING drops out from under you,” says Will, a 30-year-old Londoner. He has had paid jobs in arts marketing since he graduated from university. The pandemic upended everything. Redundancy loomed. Rescue came in the form of the British government’s furlough scheme, without which he would be jobless and penurious. The experience has made him more supportive of the welfare state—and even of grander schemes, such as a universal basic income (UBI).