Children and COVID-19 Research Library

This report provides an update of acute hunger, its main drivers and how COVID-19 contributes to their perpetuation or deterioration. Sixteen partner organizations contributed to the report.

This report highlights the unequal impacts of COVID-19 and how these have been experienced by families, children and young people in high poverty neighbourhoods in Glasgow. It examines local service responses and collaboration between the third sector and public sector and makes recommendations on priorities for future action.

This global research series by Save the Children is the largest and most comprehensive study on the impact of COVID-19 on children. 13.5 thousand children and 31.5 thousand caregivers from 46 countries shared their experiences, fears, hopes and messages for leaders in this study. The extensive study includes the voices of the most marginalised children and general public - with our in-depth analysis focussing on a representative random sample of 25,000 Save the Children program participants across 37 countries globally. The global study reveals the hidden impacts of pandemic response measures which are impacting children’s health, nutrition, education, learning, protection, wellbeing, family finances and poverty. For the most marginalised and deprived children, those impacts have the potential to be life-altering and potentially devastating. The poorest households, households with disabilities, female headed-households and girls, are the hardest hit. The recommendations guided by views & voices of children provide guidance on the next steps needed to build back better for a post COVID-19 future which respects, protects and fulfils the rights of all children, in all contexts.

This document provides practical guidance to actors in humanitarian and development contexts on the adaptations and considerations needed to support children who are either currently in alternative care or are going into an alternative care placement during the COVID-19 pandemic. It expands on the guidance provided in the Interagency Technical Note on Children and Alternative Care Immediate Response Measures by providing more detailed guidance for the medium and long-term response, recognising that the current pandemic and measures to address it are likely to continue over prolonged periods of time, and also to be reoccurring in phases. It should be read alongside the Technical Note: Adaptation of Child Protection Case Management to the COVID-19 Pandemic. International standards and guidelines on children’s rights and alternative car.

This report shows that the most marginalised and deprived children have been hit the hardest, and existing inequalities have been exacerbated. Progress that had been made against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for children is at risk of being disrupted, or even lost. For many children, the impacts of the pandemic will be catastrophic.

This paper discusses children and youth safely returning to schools in the midst of this Pandemic and the roles and responsibilities of pediatric nurses in supporting their school return. As evidence accumulates to inform treatment and public health preventive practices, questions arise as to the current and long-term psychosocial concerns and risk factors affecting the health and wellbeing of children that are the indirect yet problematic effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Child health experts, educators and families themselves, are calling attention to the actual and potential consequences of the necessary preventive practices of social distancing and stay at home directives. 

The homelessness response system in the United States is dominated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s definition of homelessness, program models, metrics, data, approaches, and goals have overshadowed those of other federal agencies. This policy brief argues that children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness have been poorly served by HUD’s dominance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.The paper draws from research, policy analyses, and testimonies of parents, service providers, and educators to make the case for a reimagined homelessness response that is child-centered and oriented toward long-term goals of economic independence, health, and wellness.

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss how COVID-19 has impacted Korean families. The economic well-being of Korean families has been threatened because many family members lost their jobs or earned reduced incomes due to the pandemic. COVID-19 substantially changed the work environment and has provided the momentum for the growth of flexible work including telecommuting in Korea, which was not commonly used before the pandemic. However, the work-from-home arrangements created an ambiguous boundary between work and family, particularly among employed mothers because childcare facilities and schools were closed during COVID-19. The postponed 2020 school year started with online schooling in April, and children in secondary schools often continued private education during the pandemic. Although COVID-19 provided an opportunity to build emotional ties for some families, many Korean families who were stuck at home experienced relational difficulties. Socioeconomic and gender inequality along with discrimination against certain groups were heightened.

A new look at children from the world’s richest countries offers a mixed picture of their health, skills and happiness. For far too many, issues such as poverty, exclusion and pollution threaten their mental well-being, physical health and opportunities to develop skills. Even countries with good social, economic and environmental conditions are a long way from meeting the targets set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Focused and accelerated action is needed if these goals are to be met.

The evidence from 41 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union (EU) countries tells its own story: from children’s chances of survival, growth and protection, to whether they are learning and feel listened to, to whether their parents have the support and resources to give their children the best chance for a healthy, happy childhood. This report reveals children’s experiences against the backdrop of their country’s policies and social, educational, economic and environmental contexts.

African migrants stimulate economic growth and development in areas of destination, transit and origin through their labour, skills transfer, consumption and investments. Their remittances also make significant contributions to food security, human capital, rural development and overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in areas of origin. The impact of COVID-19 affects migrant workers disproportionally. Often precarious working conditions and overcrowded living and transport arrangements increase their vulnerability to contagion and loss of employment, threatening their health and livelihoods. Those working under informal arrangements, commonly in the agriculture sector, are largely excluded from accessing real-time reliable information, social protection, healthcare and government response measures.

This FAO-WFP early warning analysis of acute food insecurity hotspots report highlights countries which are at risk of significant food security deterioration and in particular acute hunger and associated malnutrition. The analysis takes into account all major drivers of food insecurity, with a particular focus on the secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides a forward-looking perspective, outlining the likely evolution of impacts over the next 6 or so months aiming to inform urgent action to safeguard food security of the most vulnerable communities in these locations. The report is divided into three sections. It firstly includes an overview of the main pathways of secondary impacts of COVID-19 on food security, nutrition, and agriculture. This is followed by regional overviews and a focus on hotspot countries. The last section lists strategic recommendations which should be urgently implemented to avoid a large scale deterioration of acute food insecurity.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has already led to major increases in unemployment and is expected to lead to unprecedented increases in poverty and food and nutrition insecurity, as well as poor health outcomes. Families where young children, youth, pregnant and lactating women live need to be protected against the ongoing protracted pandemic and the aftershocks that are very likely to follow for years to come. The future wellbeing of the vast majority of the world now depends on reconfiguring the current ineffective food, nutrition, health, and social protection systems to ensure food and nutrition security for all. Because food, nutrition, health, and socio-economic outcomes are intimately inter-linked, it is essential that we find out how to effectively address the need to reconfigure and to provide better intersecoral coordination among global and local food, health care, and social protection systems taking equity and sutainability principles into account. Implementation science research informed by complex adaptive sytems frameworks will be needed to fill in the major knowledge gaps. Not doing so will not only put the development of individuals at further risk, but also negatively impact on the development potential of entire nations and ultimately our planet.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world, and children among them. Hundreds of millions of people were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, we could see a global food emergency. In the longer term, the combined effects of COVID-19 itself, as well as corresponding mitigation measures and the emerging global recession could, without large-scale coordinated action, disrupt the functioning of food systems. Such disruption can result in consequences for health and nutrition of a severity and scale unseen for more than half a century.

This review drew on a mixture of academic papers, grey literature and media reports and blogs. Evidence on the impact of previous pandemics/crises on child labour in South Asia was limited, and hence the report looks at the Ebola epidemic in Africa and the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and global financial crisis of 2007/8. The literature details the pathways through which the current crisis could lead to increased child labour. However, precise data on impact on child labour is very limited, and does not disaggregate much by country, and even less by sector, gender or rural/urban location.

This study aims to examine the impact of the infection by the novel coronavirus on Brazilian children in situation of social vulnerability based on the Millennium Sustainable Development Goals. Reflective study based on discursive formulation in three aspects principles of the objectives and goals for the millennium sustainable development; impact of the pandemic on the health of children and their families living in social vulnerability; and the role of pediatric nursing in the care provided - limits and challenges.