Lockdowns and the Harm to Children By Mrs Vera West
Here is one for the books; the Left-wing Guardian.com, reports that the Covid lockdowns had a terrible effect upon the emotional and social development of children, with half of all children in England being setback. Even the use of masks had a detrimental effect upon language development of younger children, who typically need to see people’s mouths to learn the correct vocalisation. Children aged four to seven were more severely impacted than older children such as the 12- to 15-year-olds. As well, children of all ethnicities and economic backgrounds were affected, so the harms from the lockdowns were an equal opportunity affair!
“Half of all children suffered a setback to their emotional and social development during the first year of the pandemic, with younger siblings more likely to have been negatively affected than their older brothers and sisters, according to a survey of parents.
Children from all economic backgrounds in England were affected, the research found, though those aged four to seven were significantly more likely to have suffered a deterioration in their skills than 12- to 15-year-olds.
Youngsters whose parents’ employment changed as a result of the pandemic, including those who were furloughed, were also far more likely to see their social and emotional skills worsen, the report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said.
In contrast, the social and emotional development of just one in six children improved over the same period, according to research by the IFS and UCL Institute of Education, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
Much of the existing research on children’s experience of the pandemic and beyond has focused on the impact on learning and has shown that those from disadvantaged backgrounds have been most severely affected.
This latest study looks instead at the impact of parents’ experiences in the labour market on their children’s social and emotional development and finds that children from wealthier as well as poorer families have seen their social and emotional development adversely affected.
Researchers surveyed 6,095 parents living in England with children aged four to 16. Parents answered 13 questions about their child’s behaviour, including how often they appeared worried, how easily they lost confidence and had tantrums in February 2021 and, retrospectively, a year earlier.
Nearly half of parents (47%) reported that their child had more socio-emotional difficulties in 2021 than in 2020. Children aged four to seven were 10 percentage points more likely to have seen their social and emotional development worsen than 12- to 15-year-olds (52% compared with 42%).
Parents of girls, and those who were furloughed, were also more likely to report a worsening in their child’s socio-emotional skill than children whose parents had stable employment throughout the pandemic.
Andrew McKendrick, research economist at IFS and one of the authors of the report, said: “During the Covid-19 pandemic, children from all backgrounds saw their social and emotional skills worsen considerably.
“Children lived through many changes during these years: school closures, lack of contact with friends and family, and potentially devastating severe illness or death among loved ones.
“Our research shows that another important driver of children’s declining skills was the economic disruptions experienced by their parents, whether or not those disruptions led to a large income loss.
“With the cost of living crisis currently hitting many families’ budgets, our findings are a reminder that economic uncertainty can have multi-generational impacts.”
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