Millions of children are still living with the fallout from Covid five years after the first lockdowns, a hard‑hitting new report warns.
The Centre for Young Lives says the pandemic has left a “long shadow” across a generation, with poverty, school absences, mental health problems and children going into care all hitting record highs.
It accuses the Government of breaking its promise to “build back better”, leaving vulnerable children to struggle in creaking systems stripped of early support and youth services.
Nearly 4.5 million children are now growing up in relative poverty – that’s almost a third of all children in the UK.
The number of children forced into temporary accommodation has hit 165,510, up a staggering 33 per cent since 2018.
And last year alone, more than 34,000 families with children were made homeless — a shocking 78 per cent rise since 2019.
Schools are also in meltdown. 1.49 million pupils were persistently absent in 2023/24 – almost double the figure before the pandemic. 171,000 children were severely absent, nearly triple the pre‑Covid number.
Suspensions have soared, with 954,952 handed out last year – up 118 per cent since 2018/19. 47,612 children are now in alternative provision, an 82 per cent surge.
And more parents are pulling kids out altogether, with 153,300 home educated – up 31 per cent in just two years.
The report warns that “lost learning” since Covid is leaving children struggling to catch up – with devastating consequences for their futures.
The damage doesn’t end in the classroom, the report claims. Between January and March this year, more than 920,000 young people aged 16–24 were not in education, employment or training. That’s up nearly 20 per cent on pre‑Covid levels.
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Schoolchildren are reported to be struggling to catch up (stock pic)
Experts say this is storing up a lost generation of young adults shut out of work and opportunity.
Social services are also buckling under the strain. Nearly 400,000 children were officially identified as “in need” last year. Over 83,630 children were looked after in care – up 11 per cent since 2018.
Disturbingly almost 1,000 children were placed in unregistered and illegal children’s homes in 2024 – a 500 per cent increase since 2021.
And the number of teenagers aged 16 and over entering the care system has more than doubled in a decade.
Mental health among children is now at crisis point, the report finds. One in five children aged 8–16 had a diagnosable mental health problem in 2023 – double the rate in 2017.
Autism diagnoses have also surged by 118 per cent since 2017, with 264,000 children now identified.
More than 1.7 million children have special educational needs – a 34 per cent rise since 2017.
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Over 150,000 children are now home educated (stock pic)
But the report says services are simply not keeping up, leaving thousands of children without proper support.
The report says the dangers don’t stop there. Last year, 15,600 children were flagged as victims of child criminal exploitation – up 50 per cent in just two years.
And shockingly, one in five teenagers aged 13–17 reported being a victim of violence in 2024 – up from 14 per cent only two years ago.
Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said: “Government has set out an ambitious agenda to break the link between background and opportunity, but this report lays bare the scale of the challenges so many children are facing.
“It shines a spotlight on the millions of children growing up with vulnerabilities in England – and how the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis continue to cast a long shadow over their life chances.
“Identifying these children is vital to understanding the reforms and scale of intervention needed to transform life chances.
“To shape and reform the services that keep them safe and allow them to flourish, we must know the scale of the problem and where resources should be targeted.
“Over recent years, a scattergun approach, driven by budget cuts and the decimation of early support and youth services, has left us with a creaking care system, a postcode lottery for Special Educational Needs support, children’s mental health services unfit for demand, and an education system straining under increased pressures.
“The promises to ‘build back better’ were broken, and the hope that children would be at the heart of post‑Covid government thinking came to little.
“Childhood vulnerability and need has risen sharply, and without further reform, investment and intervention, these trends will continue to rise.”
The Centre for Young Lives warns that behind every statistic is a child facing multiple, overlapping challenges: poverty, mental illness, unstable homes, and unsafe streets.
Many aren’t even captured in official data, slipping through the cracks entirely.
The report concludes that unless the government acts now, the UK risks creating a generation defined not by opportunity – but by crisis.
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Nearly 4.5 million children are now growing up in relative poverty (stock pic)
By the Numbers: Covid’s Children
4.5 million kids in poverty — nearly one in three
165,510 children in temporary housing (a rise of 33 per cent since 2018)
34,150 families with kids homeless (a rise 78 per cent since 2019)
1.49 million pupils persistently absent – double pre‑Covid
171,000 severely absent – almost triple pre‑Covid
954,952 suspensions in schools – a rise of 118 per cent since 2018
920,000 young people NEET (not in education, employment or training)
83,630 children in care – a rise of 11 per cent since 2018
931 kids in illegal homes – a rise of 500 per cent since 2021
One in five children with a mental health condition – double 2017
263,989 children with autism an increase of 118 per cent since 2017
15,600 victims of child criminal exploitation in 2024
One in five teens victims of violence in 2024
