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The Big Debate: Experts assess poverty impact on children’s early development

5 mins read Early Years
The damage from the pandemic caused to children’s development has been exacerbated by rising levels of child poverty. Here, three experts from Manchester Metropolitan University consider the impact.
The pandemic worsened the conditions for families already living in poverty. Picture: AdobeStock/Yura Yarema

POVERTY AFFECTS ALL ASPECTS OF CHILDHOOD

By Karen Hughes, senior lecturer in specialist community public health nursing

Many families are struggling to provide the basics to meet the daily needs for their children – buying food, heating homes, providing suitable clothing and safe places to sleep, generating much stress for the whole family.

The impact of these stresses is wide reaching. When facing these daily challenges, parents experience stress, fear and have less ability to manage their own emotions. Conflicts arise, relationships break down, leading to family fracture and children potentially losing their homes. Experiencing high levels of chronic stress and fear causes anxiety for children which negatively shapes their neurological development and limits parents’ capacity to help their children learn how to regulate their emotions.

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