Government pandemic interventions did not adequately support poorer children

• As current government reportedly considers scrapping two-child limit, the Covid inquiry hears how support before, during and after the pandemic failed children

Government measures during the pandemic were insufficient to mitigate inadequate levels of social security for families and children, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) told Baroness Hallett as she chaired the third day of the public hearings of Module 8 of the Covid-19 inquiry today. 

“To protect children in a pandemic you have to protect them outside the pandemic”, the charity’s head of education policy Kate Anstey told the inquiry. Protection includes “ …making sure that the social security system is adequate so that families have enough money to support their children and meet their needs”. 

Low-income parents faced a “a myriad of challenges” Ms Anstey told the inquiry “….costs, income, having to look after children, having to juggle work, and that stress at home had a knock-on effect on children and young people.”

Families on low incomes were not set up for the move to online learning in lockdown with the digital divide all too clear in lockdowns, the inquiry heard. 

“…children and families did not have the essential items that they needed, whether that's laptops or other devices, “ Ms Anstey said.  “[Children] were very stressed about falling behind. ….they were very worried about not being able to keep up,  [or]…..access lessons, or [have] feedback from teachers [which] meant that their concerns about their education were very strong,  particularly for teenagers.”

In addition to educational worries, children suffered from not being able to remain socially connected:  “…they felt more and more isolated and cut off, and therefore ...worries and anxiety grew within that.”

Investment in recovery and support for children’s mental health, well-being and re-integration in school was “…significantly overlooked", CPAG believes, with government opting for a “narrow package”.   The government had access to the evidence, and … the knowledge of what was needed to help children and young people recover [but CPAG ] remains unclear as to why the government, with that evidence and knowledge, did not carry forward …proposals  [for] what was needed for children and young people.”

Ms Anstey’s recommendations included investment in social security so that benefit levels meet family’s needs, prioritising cash payments to families when free school meals must be replaced, embedding consideration of children’s rights and needs in all levels of decision-making (including by incorporating the UNCRC) and urgent action to ensure all children have the learning tools to take part in the curriculum. 

CPAG is a core participant as part of a group of children’s rights organisations in module 8 of the Covid-19 inquiry which is examining the impact of the pandemic on children and young people in the UK.

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