It’s five years since the first summer of the Covid-19 pandemic. What impact has it had on children and young people’s health and wellbeing? Journalist Anna Scott reports.
‘More of the same,’ says Janet Taylor, chair of the CPHVA Executive, on the impact Covid-19 has had on children and young people five years after the first lockdown. Community practitioners (CPs) in the UK are seeing its impact on families, parents, children and babies, in developmental delays and problems with socialisation, behaviour management, sleep and toilet training, she says. ‘There seems to be a surge of all those things. But that might not be entirely down to Covid. We need more research.’
Since 2020, various systemic reviews (see Research: the impact over time) have analysed the research conducted into the effects of Covid-19 on physical and mental health, but studies worldwide have typically focused on adults, rather than children (Newlove-Delgado et al, 2021). Snapshot polls also focus on adults, but some feedback in the UK has come from adolescents who were leaving primary school or already at secondary school during the first lockdown. For example, a recent poll found that 60% of 16- to 34-year-olds say they spend more time looking at screens than before the pandemic (Ipsos, 2025). The poll involved more than 1100 young people and adults.
It’s hard to know though if increased screentime and social media use is solely down to the pandemic. ‘Spending more time on screens seems to be part of our culture,’ says Janet, who is also nurse manager of NHS children’s service in Northern Ireland. ‘I see one-year-olds swiping across phones, but can we blame that on Covid? I think it was happening before.’
‘CHILDREN DON’T ARRIVE AT SCHOOL KNOWING HOW TO BE A SCHOOLCHILD: IT IS SOMETHING THEY HAVE TO LEARN AND SOCIAL SKILLS HAVE TO BE TAUGHT. MORE KIDS ARE STRUGGLING WITH THAT NOW’
While there appears to be limited published data on post-Covid trajectories so far, research is underway. For example, the UK Covid Inquiry has begun its eighth investigation, with this one focused on children and young people across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The inquiry is looking at those from a diverse range of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, including children and young people with special educational needs and/ or disabilities.
‘The public hearings are scheduled to commence on Monday 29 September,’ says an inquiry spokesperson. ‘At this point, we are not in a position to confirm when our report for Module 8 (including findings and recommendations) will be published; however it will not be before the end of this year.’
BROAD IMPACTS
What is known is that the number of people in contact with children and young people’s mental health services has risen from 401,964 in 2024 in England alone to 509,079 in 2025 (NHS England, 2024, NHS England, 2025).
‘Rates of anxiety, eating disorders and low mood increased significantly post pandemic and remain elevated when compared with pre-pandemic levels,’ says Dr Nihara Krause, a consultant clinical psychologist in London and founder-chief executive of charity stem4. ‘Trauma-related issues have [also] increased – these may be related to health-related trauma, bereavement and exposure to greater domestic violence experienced over the pandemic period.’
At a basic wellbeing and self-care level, sleep, eating and exercise levels changed over the pandemic and some children may still be struggling to adjust, Nihara believes. ‘Social confidence is yet to pick up, especially if disruption as a cause of the pandemic occurred at certain ages when socialisation, identity and independence are fundamental developmental stages,’ she adds.
‘RATES OF ANXIETY, EATING DISORDERS AND LOW MOOD INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY POST PANDEMIC AND REMAIN ELEVATED WHEN COMPARED WITH PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS’
Age and stage can play a crucial role in how children and young people have been affected. ‘There are definitely some communication difficulties for those kids that were just going into school when the pandemic hit. Now they are approaching the end of primary [school] there is an uptick in speech, language and communication issues,’ says Dr Gavin Morgan, a senior educational psychologist in Northamptonshire and an academic and professional tutor at University College London.
‘Children don’t arrive at school knowing how to be a schoolchild: it is something they have to learn and social skills have to be taught. More kids are struggling with that now and you could attribute that to a lack of early school experience from five years ago,’ Gavin adds.
He also points to difficulties for those who are now starting school who were born during the pandemic. ‘I’m always cautious about saying this is definitely because of the pandemic, but among my colleagues there does seem to be a trend in [difficulties with] toileting, interaction and language development skills.’
Among older children, there appears to have been an impact both on school attendance and learning. ‘Students who were given teacher assessed grades and missed out on exams have found it harder to adjust to public exams,’ says Nihara.
It’s worth remembering that many young people experience multiple pressures that affect their mental health. These include poverty, inequality, a future that looks uncertain, academic pressure and the online world already. ‘We know the pandemic highlighted and intensified these existing pressures,’ says Olly Parker, head of external affairs and research at the charity YoungMinds.
‘Since then, we’ve seen record numbers of NHS referrals for mental health support, with many young people facing long waits and becoming more unwell before receiving help [across the UK],’ he adds.
RESEARCH: THE IMPACT OVER TIME
Systemic reviews conducted since the pandemic have shown its negative impact on children and young people.
2022
Probable MENTAL DISORDER
More than 1 in 5 7- to 16-year-olds,
compared to 1 in 9 of 7- to 16-year-olds in 2017
NHS England, 2022
2023
Probable MENTAL DISORDER
1 in 5 children and young people aged 8 to 25
Proportion of 11- to 16-year-olds
with EATING DISORDERS had risen
from 0.5% in a 2017 report to 2.6%
NHS England, 2023
MENTAL HEALTH problems
Number of children had more than doubled
by the end of Covid-19 pandemic
ANXIETY or DEPRESSION
More than x2 higher odds for children
with a previous Covid-19 infection,
and 14% higher odds of appetite problems
Hassan et al, 2023
2025
LONELIER
35% of 16- to 34-year-olds
are twice as likely to say they are since before Covid-19
Though young people are also more likely
than older generations (55+) to say they
feel less lonely, by a margin of 24% to 4%
ALCOHOL
23% of 16- to 34-year-olds say they drink more
31% say their PHYSICAL health is worse
35% say their MENTAL health is worse
Ipsos, 2025
VULNERABILITY
Brian Ching, a PhD student at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at King’s College London, is researching the impact of the pandemic on children and young people with pre-existing conditions. ‘This group of children and young people may be more vulnerable,’ he writes (Ching, 2025).
The meta-analysis he led found no overall significant change in children and young people internalising symptoms – including depression and anxiety, or externalising symptoms – such as conduct problems, inattention and hyperactivity – during the pandemic. However, the findings also showed a ‘more complex and less clear picture in which many individual studies reported significant effects of the pandemic, but some showed mental health improvements and other deterioration… This variation in finding highlights that the impact of the pandemic was heterogenous and complex,’ he writes.
Gavin believes any issues children with special educational needs may have had, have now been exacerbated. ‘Problems became entrenched and more intractable to fix,’ he says. ‘We couldn’t provide support and plans for schools to implement, and there is a whole generation of kids that lacked interventions.’
Nihara agrees. ‘Children who are vulnerable usually have social difficulties, for example – they might be withdrawn – and this will lead to further isolation.’
Some experts detect a trend of children from lower socio-economic backgrounds being affected particularly badly during and since lockdown. ‘Poverty is the huge determinant in this,’ says Gavin. ‘And there are other issues going on, following the financial crisis and decades of austerity, that continue to make it so much harder for kids from deprived backgrounds to make progress.’
Children and young people’s safety was another concern during lockdown and remains one, says Nihara, who runs stem4, a digitally based mental health charity for children and young people. She notes: ‘There are new safeguarding issues around multiple online harms [ see cover feature, page 24], and increased vulnerability to “grooming” because of poverty. Reduced social care provision has meant greater vulnerability for looked-after children who are “lost” to the system once they transfer from children’s services to adult.’
MORE RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE OF THE IMPACT ON COVID-19 ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IS ESSENTIAL: ‘THESE PROBLEMS ARE THERE AND ESCALATING’
WHAT’S NEEDED?
It’s clear that several impacts of Covid have ‘stuck’ but what, if anything, has disappeared? Gavin advised the UK government on the staggered re-opening of schools. ‘One of my concerns was that schools began to be seen as unsafe places, and children couldn’t play together,’ he says. ‘Positively, that school fear [of Covid] has gone. And so has the need for secondary school children to wear masks – I was really concerned about that impact.’
There have been other positives. ‘Improved digital access has meant easier health appointments, greater knowledge on what’s available, more access to learning platforms,’ Nihara says. ‘For some, the pandemic has brought families together – for example online communication. There’s been a greater focus on parity and shining a light on the needs of disadvantaged communities.’
But Nihara also says we must acknowledge that the fallout from the pandemic continues. Ongoing research is a crucial part of this, to inform practice and policy and help young people. For example, the BICYCLE (Born in Covid Year: Core Lockdown Effects) longitudinal study is researching whether being born in lockdown may have affected talking and thinking abilities later on. The research is focusing on children as they reach the age of four (see Resources) and is scheduled to finish in 2026.
Investing in mental health, school nursing, educational psychology and other professions is crucial. ‘There needs to be a national strategy at policy level on how to fund and maintain funding these services, together with funding early intervention services,’ Nihara says.
‘There needs to be larger investment in effective digital intervention in order to provide early and wide scale support,’ she adds. ‘And vulnerable children need to be identified, and their specific needs supported.’
Specifically, says Olly from YoungMinds, the government must focus on getting NHS waiting lists down, and ‘urgently’ fulfil its promise to roll out early support hubs in every community. ‘This means major reforms to address the root causes of poor mental health and making sure young people can access help when they need it,’ he adds.
More emphasis on personal, social and health education in schools is required, says Gavin. ‘Schools need to be places where we offer support for children’ s mental health needs.’
NEXT STEPS
In May 2025, the government announced that almost one million young people will have access to mental health support in school this year, and all pupils in England will have access to mental health support in school by 2029/2030, under its Plan for Change. ‘Backed by an extra £680 million in government funding… we are transforming mental health services for children – hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down,’ said health and social care secretary Wes Streeting at the time (Department for Education, 2025).
As always, there’s a vital role for CPs on the ground. ‘Health visitors are very good at therapeutic interventions,’ says Janet. ‘They talk, they listen, they pick up [issues] and maybe signpost to other places, or give clients tips and tricks they can do for themselves. But sometimes people do need a more significant intervention, and CPs can advise on that too.’
What is apparent is that more research and evidence of the impact on Covid-19 on children and young people is essential because, ultimately, as Gavin says: ‘These problems are there and escalating.’
RESOURCES
The BICYCLE study: babies born in lockdown
Research review: impact of Covid on children and young people with pre-existing mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions (Ching et al, 2025)
UK Covid-19 Inquiry: hearings
A global perspective (Gammon, 2025)
EXPLORING FURTHER
Are you planning research on the areas discussed? Or perhaps you’re interested in exploring the impact of Covid on young people further. If so, please get in touch with editor Aviva Attias aviva@communitypractitioner.co.uk
REFERENCES
Ching BCF. (2025) What was the mental health impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in children and young people with pre-existing mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions. See: kcl.ac.uk/mental-health-impact-covid19-children-young-people-neurodevelopmental-conditions (accessed 20 June 2025).
Department for Education. (2025). Almost million more pupils get access to mental health support. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/almost-million-more-pupils-get-access-to-mental-health-support (accessed 20 June 2025).
Hassan NM, Salim HS, Amaran S, Yunus NI et al. (2023) Prevalence of mental health problems among children with long COVID: A systematic review and meta-analysis See: journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282538 (accessed 20 June 2025).
Gammon K. (2025) The pandemic generation: How Covid-19 lockdowns is having a long-lasting effect on children. See: bbc.co.uk/future/article/20250605-the-pandemic-generation-how-covid-19-has-left-a-long-term-mark-on-children (accessed 20 June 2025).
Ipsos. (2025) COVID-19 five years on: Young people most likely to say they’re lonelier and spending more time looking at screens than before the pandemic. See: ipsos.com/en-uk/covid-19-five-years-young-people-most-likely-say-theyre-lonelier-and-spending-more-time-looking (accessed 20 June 2025).
Newlove-Delgado T, McManus S, Sadler K, Thandi Set al. (2021) Child mental health in England before and during the Covid-19 lockdown. See: thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30570-8/fulltext (accessed 20 June 2025).
NHS England. (2025) Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics, Performance April 2025. See: digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics/performance-april-2025 (accessed 20 June 2025).
NHS England. (2024) Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics, Performance April 2024. See: digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics/performance-april-2024 (accessed 20 June 2025).
NHS England. (2023) Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023- wave 4 follow up to the 2017 survey. See: digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up (accessed 20 June 2025).
NHS England (2022) Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2022 – wave 3 follow up to the 2017 survey. See: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2022-follow-up-to-the-2017-survey (accessed 29 July 2025).
Nobari H, Fashi, M, Eskandari A, Villafaina S et al. (2021) Effect of COVID-19 on Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents and Children: A Systemic Review. See: mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4563 (accessed 12 June 2025).
