Social and emotional skills of children of all backgrounds suffered in pandemic, study finds
by Jess Gibson
The pandemic has negatively impacted the socio-emotional development of children from all backgrounds, new research has found.
The study, which was undertaken by (IFS) and University College London鈥檚 , and funded by , focused on identifying the effect of employment uncertainty on children鈥檚 social and emotional skills during the first year of the pandemic.
Researchers conducted retrospective parent/carer interviews in February 2021 comparing children鈥檚 current behaviour to that of a year prior, following ongoing national lockdowns and social disruption.
The study found that 47% of families reported worsening socio-emotional difficulties among their children during 2020. In the same timeframe, just 16% of families noticed an improvement in socio-emotional behaviour.
The IFS argues that the findings show that ongoing economic instability has an effect on children鈥檚 wellbeing and development.
While almost half of the families surveyed experienced growing difficulties with children鈥檚 socio-emotional behaviour, evidence also shows that some groups were more affected:
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younger children (specifically, four- to seven-year-olds)
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girls
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children whose parents鈥/carers鈥 employment situation changed, even if they were furloughed
The study also found that less-disadvantaged children were more likely to see their social and emotional skills worsen, though these differences were not statistically significant.鈥
Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the 无码天堂, said:鈥
鈥淚t is incredibly concerning, though sadly not surprising, that such a high proportion of families have reported that their children鈥檚 social and emotional skills worsened during the pandemic.鈥
鈥淎nd while it is vital that, moving forward, all children are given the care and attention they need to make up for the 鈥榣ost learning鈥 during this period, given the particularly significant impact of the pandemic on younger children, it鈥檚 clear that this needs to start in the early years.
鈥淗ow can it be, then, that at a time when young children need more individual and high-quality support than ever, ministers have chosen to take an approach to early years policy that will achieve the exact opposite?
鈥淔rom the relaxing of ratios to the lowering of qualification requirements, the government鈥檚 insistence on prioritising increasing capacity in the early years over and above ensuring quality provision is the worst possible approach at the worst possible time.鈥