Post-Pandemic Child Poverty

It is known that the current Covid-19 pandemic – in combination with the measures taken to mitigate the dangers – has very serious economic consequences, all across the world. We are expected to emerge from the pandemic into an economic recession that is worse than anything seen since the Second World War and that may even rival the situation in the 1930s. There will be widespread job losses, as well as loss of income in other ways. This situation is predicted to push millions more people – including families with children – below the poverty line. And many of those already living below the poverty line below the extreme poverty line.

This is a frightening prospect. And it will have a profound effect on many children. The number of children living in poverty will go up considerably. And for them, the impact will be greatest. Children experiencing deprivation in the first few years of life, show effects on their growth, health, and development for many years, in some cases even their entire life. Plus, finding yourself in poverty as parents and particularly as a single parent, quickly becomes a vicious cycle. Being unable to afford daycare for children, means it is not possible to get a full-time job that would have helped you to provide for the family.

On top of this, in many countries parents struggling desperately to provide for their families and feeling that they are failing in that attempt, may believe that their children would be better off somewhere else, where they can get daily meals and education. As mentioned before in a blog (HERE), this may lead to children being placed in institutions in large numbers.

When plans are being made by governments on how to stimulate the economy and what kind of investments to make, child poverty has to be part of the consideration. Stimulation packages have to include money to strengthen and support families and prevent child poverty. If they do not, there will be a large financial price tag on the consequences.

The effects of early childhood deprivation manifest themselves in a wide variety of crisis situations that become increasingly likely the longer and the more severe the deprivation. And dealing with these crisis situations always comes at a financial cost to society – even when you choose not to care about the human suffering that comes with it.

So once again I would like to make my point, though I know people might be getting tired of hearing it by now, that for decades, countries all over the world have presented cuts to or lack of investment in community services and family-support (in other words austerity) as a way of saving money. The Covid-19 pandemic has laid this bare for the lie this is.

Using the word austerity (and while it is not always used, its meaning is generally still implied) suggests sensible spending, cutting costs by doing away with frivolities. However, community services and family-support are not frivolous, they are essential needs. They help prevent problems before they even occur or they help solve them at an early stage when it is still simple to do so. When these services and support are lacking, and no help is available, the problem will develop and will go on to escalate into a crisis. Only when there is a crisis situation are people noticed and is support offered. However, it is much harder to resolve a crisis, it takes more time, it is more expensive – and it is sometimes too late to resolve it – than it would have been to address the problem in an early stage.

This is why austerity does not save money. However much money may not have been spent on the community services and family-support, will have to be spent manyfold to attempt to resolve the crises. And again, this is without taking into account the human suffering and even loss of life that comes with this.

My argument continues to be: you need to invest money to save money. Austerity is too expensive, we cannot afford it during a recession. Children and their families need support and they need to be taken into account when recovery planning and investment take place.

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