AS pupils return to schools for the new academic year, we look at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on children in East Devon and the UK.

Children in poverty A report from several charities said children are being failed in "dual crises of poverty and mental health", adding poverty is a "critical risk factor" that has surged in recent years.

Latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show a record number of children across the UK lived in households earning less than 60% of the median income in 2022-23.

Some 3,661 children in East Devon now live in relative low-income households before housing costs, equivalent to 15.2% of under-18s in the area – up from 12.7% in 2018-19.

The UK figure is 2.5 million children, up from 2.3 million in 2018-19, before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, ONS figures show 79,611 children in the South West lived in a long-term workless household in 2022, equivalent to 7.5% of young people.

The number of children housed in temporary accommodations such as hotels has risen by 17% UK-wide since 2020, surpassing 150,000 and reaching the highest figure since records began in 2004. This includes 35 in East Devon.

Figures also show 45 households with children in East Devon were assessed as needing a prevention duty [facing homelessness] in the three months to March, with a further 12 assessed as needing a relief duty [experiencing homelessness].