One hypothesis to explain why these socio-economic inequalities in child mental health may have decreased is that the disruptive and difficult experiences, common during the pandemic, were already a part of life faced by children living in poverty. For example, experiencing poverty can entail social isolation, reduced access to services, and experiences of uncertainty and disruption. with some of the negative consequences of the pandemic lockdowns. However, these were more nigeria rcs data likely to be new experiences for children from advantaged backgrounds during the pandemic. In other words, the pandemic may have meant that the experiences of many children became more similar to some of the experiences that disadvantaged children were already facing. These explanations are speculative and further qualitative research is needed to understand how the pandemic was experienced by families from different background and communities.
Not every inequality that we studied narrowed. Throughout the last decade, boys experienced slightly worse mental health than girls, and children living in more deprived areas also faced worse mental health. These inequalities were maintained during the pandemic. Furthermore, white children (encompassing both white British and white minority ethnic groups) faced worse mental health than children from other ethnic backgrounds throughout the study period, and worryingly this inequality widened during the pandemic.