Here at The Mighty Creatives, we’re proud to support the ‘What about the Children?’ report released by Save the Children, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England and Just for Kids Law, and backed by former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield.
The report shares findings that suggest outcomes for children would have been different “if decision makers had heeded warnings on the negative effects of school closures by experts and avoided measures that marginalised children, from the reopening of pubs before schools to the design of social restrictions that had a disproportionate impact on the youngest”.
The report has been released ahead of the Covid-19 Inquiry’s next session which will take evidence from key political figures. Save the Children has also been collecting the first-hand experiences of children and young people during the pandemic with their accounts due to be handed to the Inquiry.
Dan Paskins, Director of UK Impact at Save the Children, said:
The UK’s pandemic policies harmed children and young people and this report concludes the dramatic impact on their wellbeing was avoidable.
While all children were impacted by the pandemic, those who were already having a tough time were most likely to be failed by government policies. Decision-makers had lots of tough choices to make, and this isn’t about blaming individuals, yet the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that lessons need to be learned and better systems put in place to protect children in future crises.
Anne Longfield, former Children’s Commissioner and Chair of the Commission on Young Lives, who is backing the report said:
This report sets out in very stark terms how children were frequently at the back of the queue when the government made its biggest decisions about lockdown and reopening the economy. Three years on, and many children and families are paying the price for the mistakes that were made.
So many of the long-term problems arising from Covid could have been alleviated, or even prevented altogether, had the interests of children been made a top priority by government. This must never happen again.
