The Department of Education have released the State of the Nation 2021 : Children and Young People’s Wellbeing. You can read the full report and the executive summary here.
This report is for all those interested in continuing to raise the wellbeing of children and young people in England as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to provide a shared evidence base for everyone – in government, services, schools & colleges, parents & families, communities, and employers – to reflect and build upon to deliver better wellbeing outcomes for all children and young people.
Key Findings:
Personal wellbeing
- Young people’s wellbeing has fluctuated throughout the pandemic, children and young people’s wellbeing had changed rapidly in response to external events, in particular pandemic conditions and associated restrictions. Evidence from the PPP (DfE, 2021c) throughout the academic year 2020/21 suggested that reductions in wellbeing occurred most clearly for both primary and secondary pupils in February 2021, when schools were closed to the majority of pupils.
- Among secondary pupils, female respondents reported consistently lower wellbeing than males across all four measures used (happiness, anxiousness, life being worthwhile, and life satisfaction), and there was some evidence of a widening of the gender gap in wellbeing over the course of the year. Other groups which may be thought of as vulnerable, such as children and young people with SEN, those of an ethnic minority, or those eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), demonstrated more mixed patterns of wellbeing over the course of the year.
Mental and physical health
- Rates of probable mental health disorders among children and young people remained higher in 2021 than they were before the pandemic. Importantly, however, it is unclear from this data the extent to which higher rates of probable disorders are attributable to pandemic effects, or might reflect a continuation of general increases in mental health problems among children and young people which had been reported before the pandemic (Collishaw, 2015; NHS Digital, 2018).
- Particular groups of concern for poorer mental health outcomes were those with SEN, those eligible for FSM, and those with long-term physical health conditions (Co-Space, 2021; NHS Digital, 2021a). Rates of probable eating problems were particularly high among older (17- to 19- versus 11- to 16-year-olds) and female respondents. While around half of all children and young people reported that they were concerned about the effects that the pandemic had had on their mental health, this figure was higher for girls than boys.
Education and Skills
- Respondents indicated high happiness with their family relationships on average, which was consistent with results from previous years. Nonetheless, there was evidence for a small reduction in average happiness with friends between 2019 and 2020, before scores recovered in 2021 (The Children’s Society, 2021)
Relationships
- Evidence from regular surveys of secondary pupils through the 2020/21 academic year suggested that rates of loneliness were highest in February 2021, when schools were closed to the majority of pupils (DfE, 2021b). Feelings of loneliness also appear to have been greater among older respondents (17- to- 22 versus 11- to 16-year-olds; NHS Digital, 2021a), and female respondents (compared to males). This gender difference was observed both when considering snapshot surveys in 2020 and 2021 (NHS Digital, 2021a) as well as responses across the 2020/21 academic year (DfE, 2021b). Importantly, correlational evidence suggested a link between poorer social relationships, in particular loneliness, poorer family connectedness, and problems with family functioning, and mental health problems in children and young people (NHS Digital, 2021a).
- Bullying was more likely to be reported as being experienced by SEN than nonSEN pupils (at both primary and secondary age), trends which had been observed in previous years (DfE, 2019a). Those eligible for FSM were also more likely to report 8 having been bullied in 2021 (at primary age but not secondary age) as were white pupils compared to those of an ethnic minority (at secondary age but not primary age).
“What we do”
- Rates of engagement in physical activity have remained relatively consistent in recent years, with the percentage of children and young people reported to have engaged in 60 or more minutes of physical activity per day at similar levels in 2020/21 to 2017/18, though slightly lower than in 2018/19 (Sport England, 2021). However, there was evidence for significant ongoing variation in physical activity levels, with 44.6% of 5-16 year olds reporting engaging in 60 or more minutes of physical activity per day, indicating over half do less than this recommended amount.
- Subgroups of children and young people less likely to have been engaging in 60 or more minutes of physical activity per day in 2020/21 were secondary-age children and those in years 3-6 compared to infant children, and Black and Asian children compared to white and mixed ethnicity children (Sport England, 2021). A convergence of male and female activity rates between 2017/18 and 2020/21 appear to be better explained by a reduction in male activity levels over this time, rather than an increase in female activity rates.
- There was also some evidence that rates of participation in extra-curricular activities in school were substantially lower in summer term 2021 compared to early 2018 (DfE, 2018, 2021c, 2021b), which may be indicative of pandemic disruptions to school extracurricular offers
Self, society and future
- While children and young people’s happiness with the things they own, their appearance, and their future has remained stable in recent years, including during the pandemic, average happiness with one’s sense of choice in life had slightly reduced in April-June 2020, though had recovered by April-June 2021 (The Children’s Society, 2021).
- In April-June 2021, a significant minority of children and young people were worried about having somewhere to live (25%), having enough money (33%), and finding a job (31%) in future (The Children’s Society, 2021). In July 2021, female respondents and those eligible for FSM were more likely than male respondents and those not eligible for FSM to be concerned about the impact of the pandemic on their job or career prospects (DfE, 2021b).
- Thinking about wider society and its future, in April-June 2021 children and young people were most likely to be worried about the environment (40%) and the potential for new illnesses or pandemics (42%; The Children’s Society, 2021). In another survey, older respondents were more likely to report being worried about a range of factors, including about a career, healthy environment and planet, and fair treatment (Children’s Commissioner, 2021).
- Those who reported coping less well during the pandemic, as well as those who reported experiencing more pandemic impacts on their family, were more likely to report being worried about a range of things related to the future for themselves and society, including finding a job, the environment, homelessness, and crime (The Children’s Society, 2021).
