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GENERAT ION COV I D
“While there’s a belief that it’s just the elderly left behind by the online revolution, inequality is also having a devastating effect on young children in poorer families”
and others from more affluent backgrounds could widen further over time. One of the biggest issues relates to technology. There’s a deep-seated digital inequality in this country that predates the pandemic. With children relying on technology to learn from home, this disparity has become even more apparent. While there’s a common belief that it’s just the elderly who have been left behind by the online revolution, this isn’t the case, say researchers from Cambridge University. Digital inequality is also having a devastating effect on young children in poorer families. Brutally, the more you earn, the better your internet access. While almost every high-earning family has a good level of access, that drops to just half for low-earning families. Cost, unsurprisingly, is the problem: for some families, going online can mean going hungry – a choice between Wi-Fi or feeding the family. It’s no wonder that, according to social mobility group The Sutton Trust, just 5% of teachers were confident that all their pupils would be able to access online learning. What’s also become abundantly clear is that when it comes to meeting children’s basic needs, some are suffering far more than others. Trussell Trust, which operates food banks across the nation, states that 1.9 million people used a food bank in 2019/2020 – 300,000 more than the previous period. That increase also applies to our area, where 80,000 of the 200,000 visits to local food banks involved children. Closing the gap between the haves and have-nots may be a long-term ambition, but plenty of organisational and individual initiatives are making a difference now. When the first lockdown began, some schools and colleges struggled with the move to online teaching. This time, they should be cheered to the rafters for everything they’ve done to support children who required most help. With each successive lockdown, online learning has happened faster and more smoothly. Staff in our area have pulled out all the
SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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