Lockdown generation

Lockdown generation impact of COVID-19 around the world

How does Hong Kong compare with the rest of the world for COVID-19? Some statistics reveal the situation in the US and UK, and snapshots from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, South Korea and Spain offer insight.

Vulnerability and resurgence

An analysis by the WHO of six million cases of COVID-19 worldwide between late February and mid-July 2020 found that the proportion of 15-24-year-olds rose from 4.5% to 15%. 1

In Italy, a country where – like China – there are many large, multigenerational households, a theory for the rapid, early spread of the diseases was that as young Italians continued to go out and get a mild dose of COVID-19 they then went home and infected elderly parents and grandparents who developed severe or fatal illness. 2

In the US, underlying conditions in youth are a concern. 18.5% of American children between 2 and 19 suffer from obesity, or about 13.7 million children. About 6 million children under age 18 have asthma, according to the CDC. About 193,000 people under age 20 in the US have diabetes. By July, people under 39 were driving a surge in cases in Canada where they accounted for 60% of new cases reported in Ottawa towards the end of the month, with over a third ending up in hospital. 4 The surge was attributed to COVID-19 “lockdown fatigue” and a higher number of infections in the under-20s and the 20-29 age group was first noticed in Toronto as early as May.

Learning or deprivation

More than 1.725 billion children and youth worldwide have been affected by school closures. The potential losses that may accrue in learning for today’s young generation, and for the development of their human capital, are impossible to predict. While distance learning can help those who can take advantage of it, it is the already marginalized who remain left out. More than two-thirds of countries have introduced distance learning platforms, but among low-income countries the share is only 30%. 5

In Hong Kong, about 40% of Hong Kong’s grassroots children are without computers at home 6 whereas in the US, nearly half of Native American pupils and 35% of black and Hispanic ones do not have access to either a computer or the internet at home, compared with 19% of whites. 7

Hong Kong Youth Cases up to mid-September 2020

Cases reported in the 15-24 age group spiked in March 2020 and again in the early summer. 3 Overall figures show the highest peaks in cases in the under-20s so far have been: • 17casesoutof64on 28March • 16casesoutof128on 26July • 16casesoutof125on 1 August • 11 casesoutof69on 10August11

Ages

0 to 20 21 to 30

Hospitalized

Male

10 18 Female

11 13

Discharged

Male

323 401 Female

267 350

Deceased

Male

0 0 Female

0 0

Total 612 791 Percentage

12.6% 16.3%

This situation is mirrored elsewhere. In deprived areas of England, for example, researchers say the gap between some pupils and their wealthier peers widened by 46% in the 2019-2020 school year. 8 In the US, researchers say school children did 30% less reading and 50% less maths than in a typical year and 14% of children ages 3-18 don't have internet access at home. 9 Around the world, 65% of young people reported having learnt less since the pandemic began and 51% believe their education will be delayed.

Work and unemployment

Prior to the onset of COVID-19, 15-24-year-olds worldwide were already three times more likely to be unemployed compared to older adults, while 126 million young workers were in extreme or moderate poverty according to the International Labour Organization. 10 To update this, the UN reported in August that one in six young people employed before the pandemic have stopped working. For those who still have jobs, working hours have fallen on average by 23%, nearly 25% of 18-24-year-olds reported having stopped working and 41% of young people have had their income reduced. 11

In the US, the problem is acute. Estimates in June 2020 say 25% of 16-24 year-olds are neither studying nor working and unemployment is as high as 32% for youth aged 16-19, a stark increase on 2019 figures when the figure was 8.4%. 12. Only 14% of jobs in retail and 4%

Sources

reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-youth/proportion-of-youth-with-covid-19-triples-in-fivemonths-who-idUSKCN2502FS

theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/26/more-young-people-infected-with-covid-19-as-cases-surgeglobally journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0235306 cbc.ca/news/politics/tam-young-people-covid19-virus-fatigue-1.5662206 data.unicef.org/topic/covid-19-and-children/

of jobs in hospitality can be done from home. Unlike in Hong Kong, relatively few youth work in the finance and insurance, professional, scientific, and technical services where more than 75% percent of jobs are “teleworkable.” 13

Because unemployment rates are substantially higher among those without a degree, these shifts, together with disruptions in the education system could contribute to a permanent reduction in employment prospects for today’s youth. According to a Society for Community Organization survey, 14 over a third of the city’s low-income residents lost their jobs between May and July. More than half were underemployed. 15

Mental health and depression

A US survey 16 found 75% of respondents 18-24 reported at least one adverse mental or behavioural health symptom and serious suicidal ideation among this group was 25%. In the UK, the worsening of mental health among young people aged 18-24 was more marked than among any other group. 17 18

A Hong Kong survey that polled nearly 11,500 people between February and July this year, with 49% aged below the age of 25, found that nearly three-quarters showed moderate-to-high levels of depressive symptoms, such as feelings of worthlessness and recurrent thoughts

6.

7.

8. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3099455/disadvantaged-hong-kong-pupils-strugglingonline-classes

economist.com/united-states/2020/08/29/disrupted-schooling-will-deepen-inequality-for-americanstudents

theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/01/disadvantaged-and-bame-pupils-lost-more-learning-studyfinds

of death. Almost half aged 24 or younger reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress or depression when questioned specifically about the pandemic. 19

Trust and media

This year, almost a quarter of the younger generation considered that the right to freedom of information had been affected by the pandemic. 20 In general, young people relied more on online sources to inform themselves and as the risk of fake news rose, the fragile balance between freedom of expression and the right to truthful information was exposed.

A report 21 commissioned by the Reuters Institute covering Argentina, Germany, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the US, countries with a combined population of more than 600 million and representing different media systems and different political systems, found that young people and people and those with low levels of formal education are much less likely to say the news media or the national government has helped them understand the pandemic.

At the beginning of August, the New South Wales government in Australia found that many young people were not comfortable about getting information about coronavirus through the mainstream media. 22 Nevertheless, the Reuters report found that people of all ages place very high levels of trust in scientists, doctors and other experts.

11. ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Youth_and_COVID-19.aspx 12. mathematica.org/our-publications-and-findings/publications/breaking-down-the-numbers-what-doescovid-19-mean-for-youth-unemployment 13. atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/if-history-repeats-coronavirus-economic-dangerto-youth/ 14. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3099455/disadvantaged-hong-kong-pupils-strugglingonline-classes

Read more

• un.org/development/desa/youth/news/2020/05/covid-19/ • youthforum.org/sites/default/files/publication-pdfs/blueprint.pdf • ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/10294960/3- 03062020-AP-EN.pdf/b823ec2b-91af-9b2a-a61c-0d19e30138ef

• who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situationreports/20200305-sitrep-45-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=ed2ba78b_4 • ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-tacklingcovid-19-disinformation-getting-facts-right_en.pdf • unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/COMPACTCOVID19-05.pdf • oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/youth-and-covid19-response-recovery-and-resilience-c40e61c6/

17. theconversation.com/young-peoples-mental-health-deteriorated-the-most-during-the-pandemicstudy-finds-143326 18. thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30308-4/fulltext#%20 19. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3096326/one-two-punch-protestscoronavirus-playing-havoc 20. ohchr.org/Documents/Press/WebStories/Youth_COVID-19_Survey_Report_DJY_FINAL.pdf 21. reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/how-young-people-consume-news-and-implicationsmainstream-media