{"id":12451,"date":"2021-06-08T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/?post_type=question&p=12451"},"modified":"2021-06-12T13:41:34","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T12:41:34","slug":"update-how-has-the-crisis-affected-children-from-poorer-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"question","link":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/update-how-has-the-crisis-affected-children-from-poorer-backgrounds","title":{"rendered":"Update: How has the crisis affected children from poorer backgrounds?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past 15 months, children across the country have suffered as a result of school closures and the loss of social activities. But children in poorer households carry a heavier burden across a number of dimensions \u2013 from learning losses to food insecurity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of their education, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds were already behind<\/a> their more affluent classmates before the pandemic. This has been exacerbated in many cases \u2013 for example, by unequal access to resources and space to engage fully in remote learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evidence suggests that government policies to mitigate learning losses, such as targeted small group tutoring or funding to replace missed schooling, are much more cost-effective for both children and the economy as a whole, compared with current levels of limited intervention, which has allocated around 2% of pupil spending across a universal catch-up fund and pupil premium<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the pandemic affected child poverty and food poverty?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The number of children defined as coming from poorer backgrounds has increased since early 2020. While 46% of children in lone-parent households lived in poverty in March 2020, this had increased to 49% a year later (Child Poverty Action Group, 2021)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More children now receive free school meals (their eligibility linked to their parents receiving benefits), with 21% doing so in October 2020 compared with 17% in January 2020 (GOV.UK, 2021<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These figures should be seen as a red flag given evidence that living in poverty during childhood lowers individuals\u2019 achievement, not just in the short run but into adulthood. Indeed, family income in childhood affects educational attainment and even wages at age 30 (Dahl and Lochner, 2012<\/a>; Carneiro et al, 2021<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which groups were most affected by loss of schooling?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Between March 2020 and May 2021, schools in the UK were closed for 36 weeks and open for just 24 weeks. Some children were absent from school even during the weeks when schools were open \u2013 for example, if they or another child within their bubble reported a confirmed case of Covid-19. These additional school absences were disproportionately focused in deprived areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1 plots the average number of school days missed against a measure of deprivation \u2013 the proportion of pupils in a school on free school meals (Eyles and Elliot Major, 2021<\/a>). The positive correlation highlights that a 10% point increase in the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is associated with 1.4-1.8 extra days missed per pupil during the autumn term of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1a: Free school meals eligibility versus average number of school days missed (primary), Department for Education statistics<\/h4>\n\n\n
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