The UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s work investigating the impact of the pandemic on children and young people has taken a major step forward. The Children and Young People Voices project is now ready to start hearing from several hundred children and young people, aged 9-22 years old, about how the pandemic affected them.
Announced in January 2024, independent research specialists Verian are delivering a bespoke and targeted research project. This research is now underway and will collect first-hand experiences of the pandemic from children and young people.
The insights from the research will be fed into the Inquiry as legal evidence to inform questioning and the Chair’s recommendations for the future.
Findings drawn from the research will be used within the Inquiry’s investigation into children and young people alongside evidence gathered as part of the investigation, expert evidence and analysis of existing research. This will enable the Inquiry to gain a comprehensive picture of the impact of the pandemic on children and young people and what lessons must be learned.
The Children and Young People Voices project will be representative of the UK population, including a mix of ages (currently aged between 9 to 22, who were between 5 to 18 at the start of the pandemic) ethnicities, genders, socio-economic backgrounds, those living in various geographical regions and those identifying as LGBTQ+ if aged 18 and over.
Children and Young People Voices
The Children and Young People’s Voices research is one way the Inquiry is hearing about children and young people’s experiences. Another route is via Every Story Matters, our national listening exercise, where 18-25 year olds, as well as parents, carers and adults working with young people are also encouraged to tell us about their experiences.
have always said that this Inquiry will investigate the impacts of the pandemic on children and young people.
Now, the Inquiry will hear the first-hand pandemic experiences of hundreds of children and young people. These are being collected through a large-scale research project which is already underway. The findings will be invaluable, helping inform my recommendations.
The Children and Young People Voices project will also hear from children and young people with disabilities or other health conditions, including those with special educational needs, physical disabilities and those living with post-viral covid conditions, including but not limited to Long Covid.
It will also hear from children and young people who lived in particular settings during the pandemic, including those in care settings, detention settings or secure accommodation or in temporary or overcrowded accommodation. Children and young people who interacted with other particular services and systems during the pandemic will also form part of the research, such as those who were in contact with social services, mental health services, the criminal justice system or those who sought asylum.
Particular pandemic experiences will also be covered, involving those who lost loved ones, who had or continue to have caring responsibilities, who lived or live in clinically vulnerable family settings and those whose parents or caregivers were essential workers during the pandemic.
These groups have been identified via consultation with children and young people’s organisations and an independent Research Ethics Committee.The UK Covid-19 Inquiry will investigate the impacts of the pandemic on children and young people, as per the Inquiry’s terms of reference. More detail on the timetable concerning the investigation will be announced in the coming weeks.