Impact of COVID‐19 inequalities on children: An intersectional analysis

Abstract

Societal concerns about the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic have largely focussed on the social groups most directly affected, such as the elderly and health workers. However, less focus has been placed on understanding the effects on other collectives, such as children. While children’s physical health appears to be less affected than the adult population, their mental health, learning and wellbeing is likely to have been significantly negatively affected during the pandemic due to the varying policy restrictions, such as withdrawal from face to face schooling, limited peer‐to‐peer interactions and mobility and increased exposure to the digital world amongst other things. Children from vulnerable social backgrounds, and especially girls, will be most negatively affected by the impact of COVID‐19, given their different intersecting realities and the power structures already negatively affecting them. To strengthen the understanding of the social determinants of the COVID‐19 crisis that unequally influence children’s health and wellbeing, this article presents a conceptual framework that considers the multiple axes of inequalities and power relations. This understanding can then be used to inform analyses and impact assessments, and in turn inform the development of effective and equitable mitigation strategies as well as assist to be better prepared for future pandemics.

Implications of Covid-19 Pandemic in the World and the Romanian Society. An Interdisciplinary Approach

“…To strengthen our understanding of those factors that increase vulnerability in the face of the pandemic crisis, we consider the multiple axes of inequality because the pandemic is not only a health crisis, but also an ecological, economic, social, cultural and gender crisis of vast complexity that has placed a huge burden on communities, households and individuals wherever they may be (Lemkow-Tovías et al, 2023). A 2020 United Nations communiqué draws attention to the fact that the harmful effects of this pandemic will not be evenly distributed and are expected to be most damaging to children in poor countries.…”

“…The current crisis has had a significant negative impact on women, single mothers, who have been affected by the pandemic, but also by the social and economic measures adjacent to it, and this is certain to have a significant negative impact on their children, as it is well known that the well-being of children depends very much on the social and economic circumstances of the home environment (Lemkow-Tovías et al, 2023). We have previously shown that women have experienced a high degree of stress in the face of changes brought about by the pandemic, and this cannot remain without repercussions on the children in their care, who are more vulnerable in the context of parents who have not adequately fulfilled their responsibilities.…”

Health inequalities in childhood diseases: temporal trends in the inter-crisis period

“…Such widening inequalities raises concern about their impact on the health of the most vulnerable sectors of society, such as children [ 4 , 5 ]. Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood affect both the present and the future health status of individuals, and do so systematically in all pathologies, in terms of both their development and their severity [ 6 – 9 ].…”

Child health and development in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic: are there social inequalities?

“…Social inequalities in child HAD are a common pattern [7,8], and it has been postulated that children from vulnerable backgrounds will be most affected by the pandemic. [9,10] However, studies empirically investigating the consequences of the COVID-19-pandemic on child HAD seldom apply an inequalities perspective. There are some exceptions e.g.…”