Publications

COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly disrupted the daily lives of children and adolescents, with increased time at home, online learning and limited physical social interaction. This report seeks to understand the immediate effects on their mental health. Covering more than 130,000 children and adolescents across 22 countries, the evidence shows increased stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as increased alcohol and substance use, and  externalizing behavioural problems.

Children and adolescents also reported positive coping strategies, resilience, social connectedness through digital media, more family time, and relief from academic stress. Factors such as demographics, relationships and pre-existing conditions are critical.

 To ensure children and adolescents are supported, the report recommends building the evidence on the longer-term impact of the pandemic on child and adolescent mental health in low- and middle-income countries, including vulnerable populations.

The relationship between marital splits and personal income changes is of great relevance to social policy. The aim of this paper is to provide new longitudinal evidence for Britain about the relationship between marital splits and changes in personal economic well-being using data from the first four waves (1991-94) of the British Household Panel Survey. It finds that marital dissolution is associated with significant decreases in real income for separating wives and the children of separating couples, and that separating husbands do not fare as badly. The paper’s conclusions about the different experiences of separating husbands and separating wives and children echo those of earlier studies for the United States, Germany and Canada. This is interesting because of the diversity of labour markets and welfare states across these countries and suggests that outcomes may be linked to gender-related differences that are common across countries.