BPS joins coalition calling for urgent inquiry into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children
We’ve joined a coalition of child health organisations calling on the government to launch an independent commission to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children.
18 January 2021
The letter, published in The Observer, asks for a wide-ranging commission that would inform a cross-government children and young people's strategy for recovery. It says that growing numbers of families are falling into poverty, which, with the closure of schools, is leading to the widening of the education gap and increased mental health difficulties in children.
These challenges are taking place against the backdrop of £2 billion of funding cuts to vital local services over the last 10 years.
Diane Ashby, BPS Change Programme Director, said: "We know that before the pandemic poverty levels were increasing and the attainment gap was widening. Covid-19 has exacerbated this and hit hardest the most vulnerable children who are now bearing the brunt of the pandemic.
"With schools closed leading to increasing isolation, the future is incredibly uncertain for our children and young people, and we know increasing numbers are suffering mental illness and psychological distress.
"We need the government to put children at the heart of its decision-making and deliver a cross-government strategy to support children and young people and begin to tackle the long-term effects of this pandemic."