The UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s work investigating the impact of the pandemic on children and young people has taken a major step forward. The Children and Young People’s Voices project is now ready to start hearing from several hundred children and young people, aged 9-22 years old, about how the pandemic affected them.
Announced in January 2024, independent research specialists Verian are delivering a bespoke and targeted research project. This research is now underway and will collect first-hand experiences of the pandemic from children and young people.
The insights from the research will be fed into the Inquiry as legal evidence to inform questioning and the Chair’s recommendations for the future.
Findings drawn from the research will be used within the Inquiry’s investigation into children and young people alongside evidence gathered as part of the investigation, expert evidence and analysis of existing research. This will enable the Inquiry to gain a comprehensive picture of the impact of the pandemic on children and young people and what lessons must be learned.
The Children and Young People’s Voices project will be representative of the UK population, including a mix of ages (currently aged between 9 to 22, who were between 5 to 18 at the start of the pandemic) ethnicities, genders, socio-economic backgrounds, those living in various geographical regions and those identifying as LGBTQ+ if aged 18 and over.
