Socio-economic disparities in the psychosocial and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people in Australia

Aims

While COVID-19 no longer presents a global health emergency, the indirect (non-infection) impacts of the pandemic may exacerbate health inequalities in years to come. We examined the socio-economic distribution of the impacts of the pandemic on the psychosocial and economic well-being of children, young people and their families.

Methods

The CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey (CRISIS) was conducted in seven existing longitudinal cohorts, together involving n = 3072 participants aged 0–19 years. Online surveys were conducted from May 2020–April 2021, during periods of low infection but stringent public health measures in Victoria, Australia. Analysed CRISIS domains included: COVID-19-related worries, mood state, economic difficulties and positive life changes. Social disadvantage of each sample was characterised by pre-pandemic maternal education, unemployment, income and neighbourhood disadvantage, avoiding cross-sectional data limitations. The proportion of children experiencing each type of pandemic impact was estimated within each cohort.

Results

Substantial socio-economic disparities were observed. COVID-19-related worries were 22 percentage points higher in the most (24.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 19.4–29.1) versus least (2.9%, 95% CI 1–4.7) disadvantaged cohorts. Similar patterns were noted for negative mood state (19.4%, 95% CI 15–23.9 vs. 3.6%, 95% CI 1.6–5.6), economic difficulties (18.5%, 95% CI 14.2–22.9 vs. 5.7%, 95% CI 3.3–8.1) and lower levels of positive life changes (63.7%, 95% CI 58.3–69.1 vs. 83.2%, 95% CI 78.9–87.4).

Conclusions

Indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic showed significant disparities across populations experiencing different socio-economic conditions. The pandemic offers a unique opportunity to rethink and redesign policies and services to achieve greater equity now and better preparedness for global crises in future.