CHILDREN in the North of England are facing worse health and educational outcomes following the pandemic than youngsters elsewhere in the country, a major new report has warned.

One of the report’s authors, Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of York, said: “Levelling up for the North must be as much about building resilience and opportunities for the Covid generation and for future children as it is about building roads, railways and bridges.”

She said the positive message of the report was that investment in children created high returns and benefits for society as a whole.

The wide-ranging research, titled Child of the North, involved more than 40 academics and was produced by the Northern Health Science Alliance and N8 Research Partnership.

It said rising inequality cost the economy in lost potential, and it came up with a series of recommendations on how to narrow the gap and improve the lives and futures of millions of children in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

A spokesperson said the research had shown that children in the North had a 27 per cent chance of living in poverty compared to 20 per cent in the rest of England.

Infant mortality and childhood obesity were also higher in the North.

They said that prior to the pandemic, the North saw much larger cuts to spending on Sure Start children’s centres – on average, spending was cut by £412 per eligible child in the North, compared to only £283 in the rest of England.

"During the pandemic, children in the North were lonelier than children in the rest of England," they said.

"A total of 23 per cent of parents in the North reported that their child was “often” lonely compared to 15 per cent in the rest of the country.

"The study estimated the loss of learning in the North, experienced over the course of the pandemic, will cost an estimated £24.6 billion in lost wages over lifetime earnings."

The authors made a wide range of recommendations including calling for a £10 per child per week uplift in child benefit, bringing in free school meals and permanently feeding children during holidays, a campaign England footballer Marcus Rashford has led in the past.

A Department of Education spokesperson said: “Our ambitious recovery plan continues to roll out across the country, with £5 billion invested in high quality tutoring, world class training for teachers and early years practitioners, additional funding for schools, and extending time in colleges by 40 hours a year.

“We’re supporting the most disadvantaged, vulnerable or those with the least time left in education – wherever they live – to make up for learning lost during the pandemic.”