“We owe the children a lot,” concedes Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (60, SPD). That means: dealing with the consequences of the Corona policy.
On Friday, the Bundestag discussed the report of the interministerial working group on the health effects of the corona pandemic on children and young people.
“You have to say very clearly: Of all those who made sacrifices in the pandemic, children and young people made the most sacrifices,” says Lauterbach. And he admits: “Some of the measures were too strict.”
︎ The results of the report are dramatic: children and young people showed symptoms of depression 75 percent more frequently during school closures than before the pandemic. For comparison: in the period without school closures, the number rose by 27 percent. AND: Even after the end of the measures, the values are still above the pre-pandemic values. According to statistics, general health has deteriorated by 15 percent.
The report shows who is particularly affected by the consequences of the Corona measures: “As is so often the case, the socially disadvantaged are hit hardest,” summarizes Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (54, Greens). For example, “children of parents with little education, who also have a migration background and live in an apartment that is too small, have a four times higher risk of mental health problems.”
Paus clearly: “How well children get through the crisis shouldn’t depend on their social status.”
The decisive question now is the one after the processing!
Lauterbach promises: “We will significantly improve the supply of psychotherapists.” It cannot be that children and young people have to wait a year for a therapy place. Also: basic child security.
“The final report shows it clearly: The pandemic has put a particular strain on children and young people – physically and mentally,” said Dagmar Schmidt, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, to BILD. “And of all things, the situation of children and young people from families affected by poverty has once again become significantly worse. We will therefore do everything we can to focus even more on children and young people, to strengthen them at all levels and to fundamentally combat child poverty.”
The increase in child benefit and child allowance are already important steps. Schmidt: “But we don’t stop there and create basic child security that ensures that nobody becomes poor because of their children and that all children have the same opportunities.”
