Second survey on COVID-19 Early years resilience and impact

Public Health Scotland (PHS) is inviting parents and carers of children aged 2–7 to take part in a survey to find out how their families have been affected by the different restrictions announced as we continue to live with coronavirus.

The pandemic has wider impacts on individuals’ health, and their use of healthcare services, than just those that occur as the direct result of infection.

The survey will cover the themes of key behaviours, children’s play and learning, use of outdoor spaces and social interactions, and the experience of parents and carers during COVID-19 in Scotland.

PHS ran this survey for the first time in June–July, just as Scotland was moving out of a period of national lockdown.

We are running it again to see how things are changing for young children and their families now that schools and childcare settings have reopened and more healthcare services are being used. View the findings of our first survey.

The response to our survey over the summer months has directly contributed to how we have been supporting children’s health and emotional wellbeing. Not all children have a fair start in life and societal inequalities can have a negative impact on children’s outcomes.

We know that the virus has affected some families more than others and so is likely to worsen health inequalities too. Further insight into families’ experiences will continue to help people working with, and for, children to understand the impact of the pandemic on this age group.

This will help public services best meet the needs of children, and protect their learning and healthy development.

If you have a child aged 2-7 in your family please consider taking part in our survey. Or if you know someone who does, please share the survey with them.

Access the COVID-19 Early Years resilience and impact survey