Impact of COVID-19 on children?s language skills in Bradford (Better Start Bradford and Born in Bradford?s Better Start)

We still do not fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on children’s outcomes, but research that we do have on short-term impacts, suggests children’s school readiness may have suffered. Research so far suggests that the negative effects of COVID-19 were particularly difficult for families subject to socioeconomic deprivation. This may be due to negative impacts on finances, employment, and housing that have knock-on effects on young children, such as struggling to provide home learning and caregiving during lockdowns, but these effects have not yet been documented in socioeconomically deprived, minority ethnic families. Better Start Bradford areas appear to have a higher rate of early language difficulties in 2 year olds than other UK areas, and in particular, language skills may have suffered in these families during the pandemic. The current project will look at the effects of COVID-19 on language in preschool aged children in Born in Bradford’s Better Start. This will help local services, such as Speech and Language Therapy teams, understand the level of need children may have following the pandemic.