The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Measuring the damage of lockdown school closures

Venetian masks: Gondola services, restaurants and churches are reopening in Italy as the country takes steps back to normality (Photo: Getty)

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad.

News and analysis
  • Children from better-off families spend 30% more time on home learning than those from poorer families, according to new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
  • Missing a third of a year of school could cut pupils’ lifetime earnings by 4%, a German study says. More below.
  • More than 500,000 people have accessed a suicide prevention course over the past three weeks, according to a suicide prevention charity.
  • Trains in England are running at increased frequency and stations have put in place crowd control measures. The controls come in anticipation of greater passenger numbers after lockdown was eased last week.
  • Some 30 million vaccine doses could be ready by September, Business Secretary Alok Sharma has claimed – if UK trials prove successful. Ross Clark has the details below.
  • The UK could be under-reporting Covid-19 infections by up to 70,000 cases. Professor Tim Spector from King’s College London told Radio 4 that many symptoms are being ignored.
  • A report by the Social Market Foundation says residents near parks should pay a tax to help maintain them.
ei_(49).png


‘Then lockdown happened and I started getting interested in them.’



Measuring the damage of lockdown school closures

The economy might rebound – but school closures cause permanent damage and deepen inequality according to a study by Ludger Woessmann, Director of the Ifo Center for the Economics of Education in Germany. (Here’s the pdf.) ‘Each school year of additional learning increases life income by an average of around 10 per cent,’ it says – and makes you more likely to be employed. ‘Students who lose around a third of a school year’s study time will on average receive approximately 3 per cent to 4 per cent less income over the course of their professional lives.’

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in