Children and young people are seriously affected by COVID-19 pandemic affect multiple areas including health, safety and protection issues, educational impacts, economic impacts, impact on civic space and participation. This crisis is exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and inequalities experienced by young people, all further amplified in humanitarian contexts where fragility, conflict, and emergencies have undermined institutional capacity and limited access to services.
School closures
School closures and overstretched health care systems will also have acute effects on young women and girls. By the end of March 2020, UNESCO estimated that over 89% of the world's student population were out of school or university because of COVID-19 school closures, forcing many learners online with large parts of the population in low-tech or no-internet environments at a severe disadvantage. Young women and girls living in poverty, with disabilities or in rural, isolated locations are more likely to be pulled out of school first to compensate for increased care and domestic work at home.
Impact on most at-risk groups
Child safety is at the utmost risk during the pandemic. Children are prone to violence and abuse due to the hardships and frustration suffered by their parents due to the personal and professional burden in the lockdown. Especially those children who are living in unsanitary and crowded conditions, are at considerable risks. Youth, especially young women, indigenous peoples, migrants and refugees, face heightened socio-economic and health impacts and an increased risk of gender-based violence due to movement restrictions, discrimination and more. They are also more prone to child marriage and other forms of violence as families find ways to alleviate economic burdens. Reports of child abuse have declined in the United States, with an average 40.6% decline in U.S. states in April 2020 compared to April 2019. Child welfare advocates have claimed that the drop is caused by the closure of schools and daycares, who have historically made the most reports of child abuse, and that the actual amount of child abuse is underreported and could be much higher.
Unemployment
Unemployment, too, will hit young people particularly hard: Following the 2008 Economic Recession, youth unemployment rates were significantly higher in many places than overall averages, and the recent expansion of the gig economy will likely heighten this disparity. Before the pandemic even hit, there was already an upward trend in the number of youth not in employment, education or training. Out of the some 267 million young people globally classified as NEET, two-thirds, or 181 million, are young women.
Impact on young migrants
This global crisis is exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and inequalities experienced by young people, all further amplified in humanitarian contexts where fragility, conflict, and emergencies have undermined institutional capacity and limited access to services. Young migrants, young people who are internally displaced and refugees, young people living in poor, high-density urban areas, young people without a home, young people living with disabilities, girls and young women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people and those living with HIV will be particularly affected; young people separated from, unaccompanied by, or left behind by migrant working parents face higher risks of exploitation, violence and mental health issues, and already poor access to health services and protection.
