Coronavirus (COVID-19) - experiences of vulnerable children, young people, and parents: research

1. Introduction

This report presents findings from qualitative research conducted with a range of children, young people and parents in vulnerable or seldom heard groups, carried out to explore their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. Groups included in this research were selected because their lived experiences and views had not been sufficiently captured in existing research.

The vulnerable groups covered were:

• Children and young people with additional support needs and their parents, with one or more factors requiring significant or co-ordinated support

• Children, young people, and mothers with domestic abuse experiences
• Children, young people, and parents who are asylum seeking and from minority ethnic backgrounds
• Young people in gypsy/traveller families
• Young and single parents
• Parents with physical and/or mental illness
• Parents in the perinatal period

During the period of research, there was a phased return to in-person childcare and teaching. Children in nurseries and Primary 1-3 returned to in-person childcare and teaching in February 2021. Other primary school children returned to in-person teaching in March. All other pupils, including secondary school children and young people, returned to in-person teaching in April after the Easter holidays. Some pupils had attended school in-person prior to those dates – for example, vulnerable children and children of key workers. The period of March to July 2020 is referred to as the first lockdown and December to April 2021 as the second lockdown.