The three classifications will enable analysis of the mediating effect of policies of austerity and privatization in the relationship between the economic crisis and health in the Spanish context.

The COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in a context of notable inequalities in the distribution of the social determinants of health. It is possible that the housing conditions in which children and their families experienced the confinement, and the adoption of healthy behaviors, may have followed unequal patterns. The aim was to describe social inequalities in housing conditions and in health-related behaviors among children during the lockdown in Spain. This cross-sectional study was based on data from an online survey collecting information on the child population (3–12 years) living in Spain (n = 10,765). The outcome variables used were several housing conditions and health-related behaviors. The socioeconomic variables used were financial difficulties and parents’ educational level. Crude prevalence and prevalence ratios estimated using Poisson models were calculated. During lockdown, children from families with low educational levels and financial difficulties not only tended to live in poor housing conditions, but were also exposed to negative health determinants such as noise and tobacco smoke; they took less physical exercise, had a poorer diet, spent more time in front of screens and had less social contact. A notable social gradient was found in most of the variables analyzed. The results point to the need to incorporate the perspective of equity in the adoption of policies in order to avoid the increase of pre-existing social inequalities in the context of a pandemic.

Perceived discrimination shows a consistent relationship with perceived health. Moreover, this association did not depend on the region of origin, age, sex or educational level of immigrants. These results show the need for implementing inclusive policies to eliminate individual and institutional discrimination and reduce health inequalities between the immigrant and native populations.

There is a need for parenthood planning programs and more information and access to contraception methods especially in immigrant women to help decrease IAs.

These results show the need to continue to monitor social and health inequalities between the native and immigrant populations, as well as to support the policies that improve the socioeconomic conditions of immigrants.