Covid has 'worsened' the outcomes of children living in the North of England

According to ‘Child of the North’, the pandemic has ‘accelerated’ child poverty in the North, caused a rise in child obesity and mental health issues and negatively impacted educational inequalities due to a drop in take-up of funded places and pupils missing more schooling than their peers in the South.

It finds that during the first lockdown period, just 7 per cent of children who had previously attended early years settings continued to do so (when settings were only open to children of key workers and disadvantaged children).

Other key findings from the report by the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) – a partnership that links 10 universities and 10 NHS Teaching Trusts - reveal:

• Children living in the North are more likely to die under the age of one.
• Both relative and absolute poverty are expected to rise ‘sharply’ in the North in 2021/22 due to illness from Covid-19, long Covid and job loss.
• New mothers living in the North were more likely to experience poor mental health as they spend a month-and-a-half longer in lockdown than the rest of England.
• Tooth decay among five-year-olds is more prevalent in the North West.
• Food insecurity is higher in households in the North of England.

The authors of the report put forward a set of recommendations which they said should ‘form the basis of an action plan to build a fairer future for children of the North after Covid-19’:

• Increase Government investment in welfare, health and social care systems that support children’s health, particularly in deprived areas and areas most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Tackle the negative impacts of the pandemic in the North through rapid, focussed investment in early years services, such as the Health Improvement Fund. This should include health visiting, family hubs and children’s centres - as supported in the Leadsom review – but with investment proportional to need and area-level deprivation adequately accounted for.
• Commissioners of maternity and early years services must consider the impact of pandemic-related service changes on inequalities in families and children’s experiences and outcomes.
• Take immediate measures to tackle child poverty. Increase child benefit by £10 per child per week. Increase the child element in Universal Credit and increase child tax credits.
• Introduce universal free school meals, make the Holiday Activities and Food Programme scheme permanent, and extend to support all low-income families. Promote the provision of Healthy Start vouchers to all children under five and make current Government food standards mandatory in all early years settings.
• Government should prioritise support to deprived localities by increasing the spending available to schools serving the most disadvantaged pupils in England. This requires a reversal of the current approach to resource allocation: the new national funding formula will deliver 3–4 percentage points less funding to schools in poorer areas relative to those in more affluent areas.
• Support educational settings to initiate earlier interventions. Teachers and early years professionals see many of the first indicators of children’s risk and vulnerabilities. Prioritising strong pupil and staff relationships and collaboration with parents/carers will ensure a firm foundation for meeting children’s needs, and for a return to learning.

‘Children growing up in the North of England get a bad deal’

Professor of epidemiology at the University of York and co-lead author of the report Kate Pickett said, ‘Levelling up for the North must be as much about building resilience and opportunities for the Covid generation and for future children as it is about building roads, railways and bridges. But the positive message of this report is that investment in children creates high returns and benefits for society as a whole.’

Professor of public health and policy at the University of Liverpool and co-lead author of the report David Taylor Robinson added, ‘Children growing up in the North of England get a bad deal. Due to poverty and lack of investment, their outcomes are worse across the board – from risk of death in childhood, to obesity, mental health, and education, and the pandemic has made the situation worse. The stark inequalities exposed in our report are preventable and unfair. Levelling up must begin with better policies for children.’

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said it was also concerned about the rate of nurseries closing in northern areas.

Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, ‘Children in deprived areas have suffered the most throughout the pandemic but this latest report shows the North South divide is widening. Our recent closures report highlighted that the rate of nurseries closing for financial reasons is higher in areas of deprivation, particularly in northern areas and this is a serious concern.

‘Practitioners are trying hard to support children with their lost learning and NDNA’s team of experts have produced lots of additional training resources to support them. But nurseries are still suffering from the impact of Covid-19 including loss of income and increased overheads. We have a serious staffing crisis and investment in workforce to help them with training and to encourage more people into childcare is desperately needed. 

‘We appreciate the increased funding in the Spending Review but due to chronic underfunding this increase in the hourly rate will barely cover the increased costs. Boosting the Early Years Pupil Premium to the same levels that school children receive will help those most in need.’ 

Responding to the report, a Department for Education spokesperson said, ‘Our ambitious recovery plan continues to roll out across the country, with £5 billion invested in high quality tutoring, world class training for teachers and early years practitioners, additional funding for schools, and extending time in colleges by 40 hours a year.

‘We're supporting the most disadvantaged, vulnerable or those with the least time left in education - wherever they live - to make up for learning lost during the pandemic.’

• The report is available here