The Daily Telegraph:
Economy still in limbo as working parents continue to juggle childcare; With schools remaining closed, productivity levels will continue to suffer, writes Russell Lynch
14 May 2020
But the short-term productivity hit of a workforce partly hamstrung by childcare, could be dwarfed by the longer-run economic blow to the children missing school and the wider economy, according to education experts. Stephen Machin, an LSE professor who heads the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), says there will be "a significant output loss" in the short term and is critical of the Government's strategy, saying: "I'm not sure the interaction between the labour market and the schooling market has been thought out. They are being treated as if they were two separate distinct things."
But those short-run concerns are outweighed by the prospect of the longer term damage to pupils, with the brunt felt by poorer children.
The CEP's studies, based on previous stoppages such as teachers' strikes, warn the effect of the lost learning could push a mid-ranking child into the bottom 30pc.