An overview of the challenges faced by vulnerable children and their families during COVID-19 : A scoping review

Abstract: The pandemic is not only a crisis itself but has created multiple crises for the vulnerable population as well. Worldwide, they encountered multiple challenges to assistance and protection, but due to the pandemic, their needs might have increased. As the number of refugees, migrants, and asylum-seeker is rising, all the health risks and the challenges that this group is exposed to, demonstrates the need for increased support, protection, and assistance. This scoping review aims to investigate if the arisen challenges faced by vulnerable children and their families have exacerbated in the context of COVID-19, in the published research literature. In this scoping review, information was collected on multiple databases between January and February 2021. Seven empirical studies were analysed in order to examine which are the new challenges that have arisen due to COVID-19 and explore if they worsened in this context. Seven areas emerged due to the pandemic: hygiene measures, food insecurity, child labour, child marriage, freedom of movement, access to education, access to services and sources of information, while five areas have worsened: economic, psychological, violence, discrimination and overcrowding. The findings are showing that COVID-19’s disease burden is higher in vulnerable contexts, due to the living conditions, high risks jobs, and poor access to services. The outcomes of these challenges are likely to be long-standing, as they breached into the processes and structures of the family system Although efforts to control the virus’s spread remain critical, the negative effects on vulnerables, must be addressed and identified to avoid the risk of more challenges getting exacerbated, and reduce the parental stress that will lead to the well-being of the future generations. Limitations, practical implications and future research are discussed.