Considering inequalities in the school closure response to COVID-19

Armitage, Richard; Nellums, Laura B

doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(20)30116-9

Cited by 289 publications

(287 citation statements)

References 2 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…However, other inequalities have also been noted such as in educational opportunities for children during school closures. 26 These remain to be explored further in future studies. Finally, our study used two different SEP indices and further tested specific aspects of SEP in sensitivity analyses, but we restricted measurement of SEP to a finite list of factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Are we all in this together? Longitudinal assessment of cumulative adversities by socioeconomic position in the first 3 weeks of lockdown in the UK

Wright

Steptoe

Fancourt

2020

J Epidemiol Community Health

151

164

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BackgroundDespite media claims that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is uniting societies and countries in shared experience, there has been concern that the pandemic is in fact exposing and widening existing inequalities within societies. Data have shown these differences for cases and fatalities, but data on other types of adversities are lacking. Therefore, this study explored the changing patterns of adversity relating to the COVID-19 pandemic by socioeconomic position (SEP) during the early weeks of lockdown in the UK.MethodsData were from 12 527 UK adults in the University College London COVID-19 Social Study (a panel study that involves online weekly data collection from participants during the COVID-19 pandemic). We analysed data collected from 25 March to 14 April 2020. The sample was well-stratified and weighted to population proportions of gender, age, ethnicity, education and country of living. We used Poisson and logit models to assess 10 different types of adverse experiences depending on an index of SEP over time.ResultsThere was a clear gradient across the number of adverse events experienced each week by SEP. This was most clearly seen for adversities relating to finances (including loss of employment and cut in income) and basic needs (including access to food and medications) but less for experiences directly relating to the virus. Inequalities were maintained with no reductions in discrepancies between socioeconomic groups over time.ConclusionsThere were clear inequalities in adverse experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the early weeks of lockdown in the UK. Results suggest that measures taken to try to reduce such adverse events did not go far enough in tackling inequality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Are we all in this together? Longitudinal assessment of cumulative adversities by socioeconomic position in the first 3 weeks of lockdown in the UK

Wright

Steptoe

Fancourt

2020

J Epidemiol Community Health

151

164

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many countries have implemented the school closure policy as an immediate response to the COVID-19 outbreak to reduce social contact [ 1 ]. The effectiveness of school closures on the spread of the coronavirus remains unknown [ 5 ], yet the adverse consequences of school closures on children’s growth and development started to appear soon afterward [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Recent studies showed that children have fewer regular eating and sleeping patterns, longer screen time, fewer physical activities, increased stress, and less social interaction during school closures, which pose risk to their physical and mental health [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Reading Ability Gain in Kindergarten Children during COVID-19 School Closures

Bao

Zhang

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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By 15 April 2020, more than 1.5 billion students worldwide experienced school closures in an effort to slow the spread of a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), during the worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These interruptions in formal in-person educational experiences caused adverse consequences on school-age children’s academic outcomes. Using a pre-existing database, we calculated changes in children’s reading ability without formal education (i.e., the summer months). The resultant models predicted that the rate of reading ability gain in kindergarten children during COVID-19 school closures without formal in-person education will decrease 66% (2.46 vs. 7.17 points/100 days), compared to the business-as-usual scenario, resulting in a 31% less reading ability gain from 1 January 2020 to 1 September 2020. Additionally, the model predicted that kindergarten children who have books read to them daily would have 2.3 points less loss (42%) compared to those who do not, who are predicted to have a 5.6-point loss during the same time period. Even though reading books to children will not substitute the critical role of formal education in teaching children how to read, families, educators, and policy makers can promote this simple strategy to facilitate and maintain reading ability gain during school closures, which may be a common occurrence as nations see the public health benefits of physical distancing for the current and future pandemic outbreaks.

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“…In this perspective, mental health of children and adolescents undergoes a sudden stress test during school closure, with increased risk of loneliness, addiction to videogames and binge watching, alteration of circadian rhythms, direct or assisted domestic violence, and academic achievement gaps. Especially for the latter, inequalities related to socioeconomic status and differences related to pre-existing vulnerabilities will be further amplified [2][3][4].…”

Section: To the Editormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, considering how much social isolation may affect mental health of children and adolescents [2][3][4], we strongly suggest that medical, educational and economical authorities should implement as soon as possible strategic plans for a progressive re-start of school or educational activities. This re-start should ensure a calculated trade-off between risk of COVID-19 infection and reduction of risk for children's well-being, especially for more vulnerable subgroups, as those of families with low socioeconomic status and those with pre-existing mental health problems or learning difficulties.…”

Section: To the Editormentioning

confidence: 99%

Letter to the editor: Evidence on school closure and children’s social contact: useful for coronavirus disease (COVID-19)?

Poletti

Raballo

2020

Eurosurveillance

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Considering inequalities in the school closure response to COVID-19

Abstract: Considering inequalities in the school closure response to COVID-19

Cited by 289 publications

References 2 publications

Are we all in this together? Longitudinal assessment of cumulative adversities by socioeconomic position in the first 3 weeks of lockdown in the UK

Are we all in this together? Longitudinal assessment of cumulative adversities by socioeconomic position in the first 3 weeks of lockdown in the UK

Modeling Reading Ability Gain in Kindergarten Children during COVID-19 School Closures

Letter to the editor: Evidence on school closure and children’s social contact: useful for coronavirus disease (COVID-19)?

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