New anthem for doomed youth
The coronavirus crisis and ensuring economic impacts will once again significantly impact on younger generations
CORONAVIRUS and the lockdown had a devastating impact on the city’s children and young people, Birmingham city council fears.
Senior officials have warned that young people will fall behind after months away from the classroom – this is a particular worry because qualification levels in Birmingham are already below average.
Young people from black and other ethnic minority communities could be particularly hard hit and there are also fears about the impact on the mental health and employment prospects for the city’s youth.
These are some of the findings from an analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on Birmingham’s communities, prepared by officials including the Assistant Chief Executive and the Director of Public Health, for the city council’s cabinet.
It warns: “Many children have experienced disruption to their education and there is likely to be disparity in the impact on educational attainment across the city, with children from more disadvantaged backgrounds potentially having fewer learning opportunities at home.”
As a result the gap in school results that exists between the richer and less wealthy parts of the city, and between Birmingham and the rest of the country generally, may get worse.
“A disparity in qualification and skill levels between residents in different communities and areas of the city already exists and there is the potential that the current crisis will exacerbate this.
“Resident qualification levels in Birmingham are already well below the national average and amongst the lowest of the UK core cities.”
Pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds could be hardest hit, partly because it seems their parents have been statistically less likely to send them back to school.
The reasons are unclear, but it might be because black and ethnic minority (BAME) communities are more at risk from coronavirus.
The council said: “As of early July, attendance in Birmingham schools was around 27,000 each day.
“However, attendance levels vary across the city and evidence has shown that areas of the city with higher BAME populations have lower numbers of pupils attending.
“For example, in mid-June, Sparkhill (91.27 per cent BAME) had 1.76 per cent of pupils attending whereas Sutton Roughley (29.79 per cent BAME) had 34.48 per cent of pupils attending.
“The council is working with school leaders across the city to address these issues and ensure that more children return to school.”
There is concern about the loss of early-year provision such as nursery schools which is expected to have a far greater impact of those children who are already at a disadvantage or vulnerable. The lockdown has been bad for the city’s children in other ways. For one thing, it has put vulnerable children at increased risk of abuse and neglect and it may also have damaged mental health.
The report said: “There is also a concern regarding young people’s mental health, with demand for services in Forward Thinking Birmingham (the city’s mental health partnership for children and young people) and substantial take-up of Kooth (a national online mental health support service which was commissioned as part of Birmingham Children’s Partnership’s response to Covid-19).”
What’s more, the lockdown also forced the closure of the council’s youth centres. Young people in the jobs market, or those about to start looking for work, also face problems. In the West Midlands, 697,100 people were furloughed, which is approximately 27 per cent of jobs. In Birmingham, 122,800 Birmingham workers were furloughed which is around a quarter of those in the city who are employed.
We don’t know how many of those jobs will come back, but some will be gone for good once the furlough scheme ends.
And workers under 25 years old were around two-and-a-half times more likely than other employees to work in a sector that was closed down, such as retail, hospitality and leisure.
Research by the Resolution Foundation found that young people who entered the workforce during that period caused by the banking crisis continue to face higher rates of unemployment, lower pay, and lower job prospects, even ten years on. And something similar may happen to those about to enter the workforce today.
The council’s report said: “Early indications are that the coronavirus crisis and ensuring economic impacts will once again significantly impact on younger generations, whether due to educational disruption, reduced employment prospects, or diminished aspirations.”
Among the doom and gloom, the report offers a positive note. The authors say that the current crisis “provides an unparalleled opportunity for the council to work with communities and partners to collectively drive a fundamental rethink and reset of life chances for people in the city.”
In other words, as Birmingham returns to “normal”, there is a chance to think about what normal should look like and how it could mean a less unequal city.