Aftershock - Children's Wellbeing and Development
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The final report in our series of reports Aftershock: Addressing the Economic and Social Costs of the Pandemic and Natural Disasters focuses on Children’s Wellbeing and Development.
Our analysis found significant and long lasting impacts are likely on children as a result of natural disasters and the pandemic, with impacts concentrated in Western Sydney:
13.4 per cent increase in the number of children from low socio-economic areas developmentally vulnerable at the start of school
Almost 220,000 students attending low SES schools who missed on average 15 weeks of face-to-face learning during the pandemic, equating to up to $16.3 billion in lost lifetime earnings
13,401 additional children at risk of significant harm between 2018/19 and 2020/21, which risks an increase in the lifetime costs associated with child abuse and neglect in NSW of $7.84 billion
We make a number of key policy recommendations to mitigate these impacts, and reduce the long term costs on the cohort of children impacted:
Continued funding of high-quality school tutoring programs
Integrating provision of whole-of-family, early intervention health and social services into the school environment in at-risk communities
Expansion of early intervention and child protection services, including growing the provision of culturally-appropriate support and service provision, led by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and multicultural services
The report was covered in this article in the Sydney Morning Herald.