In our latest report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), published on International Children’s Day 2020, we have expressed significant concerns about how the pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities, and having a devastating impact on children’s rights, well-being and futures.
Key concerns include more children being pushed into poverty, widening educational inequalities and worsening mental health.
Poverty is one of the main barriers to the full enjoyment of children’s rights – living in poverty can have a negative impact on children’s health, well-being, education and development. Even before coronavirus the number of children living in poverty in Britain was increasing. However, we have warned that more families now risk being pushed into poverty as a result of the pandemic, and the groups who already faced poverty are likely to see their income reduced further. Families with children are among those who have been hit the hardest.
School closures and inequalities in home-learning environments also risk exacerbating growing attainment gaps for certain groups, including disabled pupils, some ethnic minorities, and those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. We have warned that the shift to online learning risks undermining the right to education and may have a long-term effect on attainment. It also cites challenges affecting special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision in schools, with staff shortages, social distancing rules and the need to concentrate resources on the health emergency resulting in local authorities reducing SEND provision and, in some cases, ceasing it all together.
Although the effect of the pandemic on children’s mental health is not yet fully understood, we have warned that the combined impact of limited capacity within the mental health service and children being cut off from support at school, could be severe and long-lasting.
Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: