As of: 07/28/2022 6:11 p.m
It is well known that the corona pandemic has had a negative impact on many children. But which of them is particularly affected? According to a study, children from poorer families and from single mothers suffer the most.
Children from low-income families have suffered more psychologically from the corona pandemic than other children. This is the result of a study by the AOK health insurance company.
The majority of the mothers surveyed stated that their children came through the pandemic relatively well in terms of health. While only 16 percent noticed a deterioration in the offspring’s physical health, one in three mothers reported that the children’s mental health had suffered. Families with a low household income were affected more often than average.
deterioration of the psyche
The answers to the questions about the mental health of adolescents show a clear social gradient: According to the study, single parents and mothers with a simple education and low household income in particular noticed a deterioration in the mental health of their children during the corona pandemic. Significantly more low-income women (51.0 percent) and single parents (44.1 percent) say this than the average of 34.9 percent.
In general, the current mental health of one’s own child is rated significantly worse than physical health. 59.4 percent rated their children’s mental state as good or very good. Here, too, the assessment of mothers with a simple education (50.2 percent) or low household income (40.7 percent) and single parents (45.9 percent) is significantly worse.
Irritable, aggressive and high media consumption
As a result, every fifth mother found that her offspring had become more irritable and aggressive since the beginning of Corona. Almost three out of four mothers reported excessive media consumption and almost two-thirds that their children did not exercise enough. Overweight children had gained even more weight in four fifths of the cases. Here, too, mothers with little education, low income and single parents reported problems more frequently than the average. For example, nine-tenths of the children from poor families had weight problems that got worse.
Need for tutoring and study groups
Since the beginning of the pandemic, many children have only rarely or irregularly been able to use the pre-school or school education, care and upbringing. Most of the mothers surveyed would like support from sports clubs (27.8 percent), followed by school psychologists and social workers (24.8 percent).
Mothers with a low social status expressed a need for tutoring and study groups more often than average in order to catch up on what they had missed. According to the study, the majority of the mothers surveyed felt particularly or very heavily burdened (65.2 percent) by the restricted kindergarten and school operations during the pandemic, especially the single parents at 69.6 percent. Here, too, single parents and mothers with low household incomes reported severe or very severe stress more frequently.
“A common thread running through almost all of the results of our study is that children from socially disadvantaged families were significantly more affected by the pandemic,” said Klaus Zok, head of the study, according to a statement.
According to their own statements, 3,000 mothers of three to twelve-year-old children were interviewed in February and March of this year for the study by the Scientific Institute of the AOK, which was carried out in cooperation with the German Youth Institute. The findings were consistent with the results from other studies.