Evidence from July suggests pupils in England lost nearly a third of their learning since the start of the pandemic, whilst a government report has warned this would exacerbate the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. Meanwhile, new data from NHS digital has confirmed that for the second year in a row, one in six children has a diagnosable mental health condition.
Sadly, we know that successive lockdowns also put some children at increased risk of hidden harm - calls to the NSPCC’s helpline about emotional abuse increased by 40 per cent, neglect by 15 per cent and physical abuse by 18 per cent during the first year of the pandemic.
With all this in mind, now is the time to rebuild for children’s futures in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The policy decisions and spending choices made in the next few months will determine the extent of the long-term harm inflicted by Covid-19 on this generation of children. That’s why we are urging politicians and policymakers to turn their attention to the urgent rescue and recovery of childhood. Achieving this must be a key objective of the Government’s plans to ‘build back better’.
The Prime Minister has made a powerful commitment to ‘level up’ left-behind communities across the UK. The ultimate test of success for this strategy must be whether it delivers meaningful change for children and young people – and especially for the most vulnerable.
The foundation for this success starts with the first 1001 days of life, turning the government’s Best Start in Life vision into a reality for families. However, we must also do far more to support families at all stages, recognising the multiple challenges facing teenagers, from anxiety, to online harms, to the risk of exploitation by gangs. We need help that’s available to every family in every community especially for those who are struggling but fall short of the increasingly high thresholds for access to children’s services.
We need this action in order to relieve the strain on the system that keeps some of our most vulnerable children safe. Local authority children’s services are currently trapped in a cycle where spending on early intervention and family support services is declining (having fallen by almost half in the last decade), only to see skyrocketing spending on expensive crisis interventions and residential care placements.
And we need to ensure that children who have been affected by trauma and adversity can get the support they need to recover from abuse and neglect. The role of specialist services will be vital as we emerge from the pandemic.
This will all require government leadership and long-term investment, but it is investment that will pay off, supporting our economic, as well as social, recovery.
Analysis of Barnardo’s family support service on the Isle of Wight found for every £1 invested the saving to the state was about £2.60. The Spending Review is a real opportunity to make a long-term commitment to investing in a better future for struggling families.
But this challenge is not the government’s alone. If we are serious about ‘levelling up’ after the pandemic, we must come together. Our charities see the challenges, but also the possibilities of a new approach to working with children and families, bringing together the best that all sectors of the community – from local agencies, to charities, to business – have to offer to bring about lasting and meaningful change for our children.
Lynn Perry is interim co-chief executive at Barnardo’s and Sir Peter Wanless is chief executive at the NSPCC
