{"id":12384,"date":"2021-05-28T10:23:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T09:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/?post_type=question&p=12384"},"modified":"2021-05-28T13:19:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T12:19:48","slug":"digit","status":"publish","type":"question","link":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/digital-divide","title":{"rendered":"Digital divide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Newsletter from 28 May 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Economics Observatory we continue to survey the evidence to answer important questions about the impact of the past year on our lives and livelihoods. This week, we\u2019ve featured articles focusing on the young, small businesses and the stock market value of technology companies \u2013 all of which have been deeply affected by the lockdowns that the pandemic has made necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation Covid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cathy Farmer provides a thought-provoking piece on Generation Covid<\/a>. Drawing together evidence from a number of articles on children and young people that we\u2019ve published since our launch in early June last year, she explores the impact of long periods of school closures, remote learning and interrupted exams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience of enforced distance learning is likely to affect young people\u2019s development for years to come. For example, during the first lockdown, four in five school kids were reported to have had limited access to a computer or a suitable space to learn, which prevented them from participating fully in class. This will damage their future lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In normal times, children from poorer backgrounds are between 18 months and two years behind their wealthier peers by the time of GCSE exams around age 16. Emerging evidence suggests that such inequalities are being exacerbated, with the attainment gap between rich and poor kids estimated to have increased by 36% since the start of the pandemic. Children from the most deprived backgrounds may now be a further two months behind their counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cathy\u2019s notes that youngsters aged three to four are likely to have experienced the greatest loss of learning. What\u2019s more, reduced access to playgrounds, sports fields and other school facilities has meant that children\u2019s emotional wellbeing has suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I found most illuminating in the article comes from the United States in the aftermath of the Spanish flu epidemic a hundred years ago, where Americans born between January and September 1919 turned out to be \u2018underachievers\u2019 compared with those born either side of this window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can be done for today\u2019s younger generations? Evidence suggests that the \u2018scarring\u2019 effects from lost learning can be reduced if children and young people stay in full-time education or training for longer. Policy options for those making the transition from education to work include initiatives such as an employment or training guarantee from government to get Generation Covid into the labour market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bursting the bubble<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Arguably, a key factor of the success of lockdowns has been the availability of technology for entertainment and maintaining social contact. Without these digital platforms, day-to-day functioning for the past 15 months would have been difficult for many as well as incredibly dull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, many Twitter users were reminded how much technology has permeated our lives, when they found that the latest NHS app<\/a> update grants access to our personal GP records. A minor craze formed as thousands of users feverishly downloaded the app to read through notes from childhood doctor appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increasing reliance on tech during the pandemic correlates with a surge in value for US technology companies, as William Quinn and John Turner explain in their Observatory article<\/a> about tech bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They note that the value of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google shares has risen over 100% since the start of last year. Other companies, such as electric car company Tesla, have seen their shares increase by a staggering 700% in the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During such difficult times, it would be nice to assume that this success is a positive sign of economic growth. But William and John urge caution. Their analysis tracks the market trends of previous tech booms to demonstrate why the phenomena are called bubbles: they always burst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But are bubbles a bad thing and should we be worried about them bursting? Yes and no: while many companies go bust when a bubble bursts (as with the \u2018dot-coms\u2019 of the early 2000s \u2013 see Figure 1), the rapid development of technology that coincides with such an event can be socially advantageous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1: The dot-com bubble<\/h4>\n\n\n
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