White working class children face even worse prospects after the pandemic, experts warn

The report said terms such as “white privilege” may have contributed to a “systemic neglect” (PA Archive)

The prospects for white working-class children will be made even worse by the pandemic, experts warned on Tuesday— as a report found they have been failed by decades of neglect in the education system.

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “I am concerned the Covid-19 pandemic will worsen the prospects for this neglected group of children, amid growing economic and education divides.”

It comes after a damning report by the Education Select Committee of MPs said white children on free school meals had lower attainment at every level of education than almost any other group.

It said terms such as “white privilege” may have contributed to a “systemic neglect” of white working-class pupils.

Robert Halfon, chair of the committee, said it was a “scandal” so little attention has been paid to the underachievement of white working-class pupils.

Professor Elliot Major warned that things are likely to get worse for white working-class children because the pandemic has “exposed and exacerbated” existing divides in ways that are only now being identified.

He said: “We are still just getting our heads around the extent of the inequalities that are emerging from the pandemic.” He warned that young people will be hit by a “double whammy” of learning loss and lack of jobs.

He added: “White pupils eligible for free school meals have for many decades made up the majority of education’s left behind. Many fail to reach national school benchmarks at age 16. This failure leads to lifelong scarring: low earnings, poor job opportunities, poor health, and greater likelihood of depression and imprisonment. It has a lasting national legacy: creating deeper divides in society and damaging the nation’s economic productivity”.

The report said just 17.7 per cent of white pupils on free school meals achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared with 22.5 per cent of all pupils on free school meals.

The report recommended finding “a better way to talk about racial disparities” and said the term “white privilege” could be divisive. Mr Halfon told LBC today: “I am from a Jewish background, I know all about anti-Semitism and racism. But the concept of white privilege is wrong-headed for a number of reasons… what it means is collective guilt when it should be individuals who are responsible for racist acts.”

But Professor Elliot Major warned that the “white working class” is not one homogenous cultural group and warned against pitting one working class group against another, saying we should be talking about “class privilege” rather than white privilege.

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