The vast majority of professionals questioned in a new survey say they are seeing an ongoing negative impact on babies’ and young children’s social skills due to the COVID pandemic.

The survey, which features in a report by the First 1001 Days Movement and Institute of Health Visiting, provides a window onto the ongoing impact of the pandemic on babies, young children and their families, and the services that support them.

It found that 94.8 % of professionals say that the pandemic has an ongoing negative or very negative impact on the personal and social skills of children who were living in the pandemic.

The survey also found that almost half (42.7%) of respondents stated that ‘many’ babies they work with are affected by parental anxiety, stress, or depression due to the pandemic.

The report, entitled Casting Long Shadows: The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on babies, their families and the services that support them, draws on a national survey of 555 professionals and volunteers who work with babies and their families in health visiting, mental health, maternity, early education, and other services.

More than four in 10 (44.1%) of respondents said that ‘many’ of the babies they work with are currently affected by increased exposure to domestic conflict, child abuse and neglect. This is higher than the proportion of professionals making the same observation in summer 2020 (29%).

Four in 10 (40.4%) survey respondents reported ‘many’ babies they worked with had been affected by the loss of family income or increased risk of food poverty.

Georgina Mayes, policy and quality lead at the Institute of Health Visiting, said: ‘This new report clearly shows that the pandemic is having a lasting impact on many children’s health, wellbeing and development, and on the ability of services to meet their needs. More children are falling behind, inequalities are widening, and some services are reaching a crisis point. Whilst many professionals are working hard to support the families that they work with, this report clearly shows that demand is outstripping the workforce’s capacity to meet the scale of need.

‘We call on national and local governments across the UK to take the findings of this research seriously and act now to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our youngest children’s lives and life chances.’