Disrupted Lives: Pandemic Policies and Youth Wellbeing
June 7-17, 2022 Conference co-hosted by the McGill Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy, UNICEF Canada and the ListenUP for Youth Wellbeing initiative.
Description:
There is growing concern for the mental health and wellbeing of youth across Canada and globally. “Youth” is always a challenging period of growth and transition – but it is clear that the last two “pandemic years” have been especially challenging for young people from diverse communities and countries around the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in policies that affected youth, intentionally or incidentally, with mixed impacts. Governments worldwide and across Canada were forced to make critical decisions, quickly, with little evidence or knowledge of how the policy choices they made would impact diverse communities and populations.
We are now seeing some of the impacts. There is not yet sufficient evidence on the short and long term effects, some impacts are evolving and much we still do not know, but it is clear that the impacts on young people have been significant – on their mental health, employment, relationships, education, and economic security. A growing number of research reports and surveys of young people across Canada point to disrupted futures, interrupted journeys and dreams, and times of confusion and insecurity in moments of transition that promise to have wide-ranging impacts for years to come.
It is important that we take stock of what we now know, and don’t know, about the impact of pandemic policies on diverse populations of youth and discuss together important considerations for future policy that promotes and prioritizes youth wellbeing.
The Disrupted Lives conference, co-hosted by the McGill Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy, UNICEF Canada and the ListenUP for Youth Wellbeing initiative, brought together young people, researchers, community organizations, policymakers across jurisdictions and international leaders to “take stock” of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic policies on youth. Through a mix of keynote plenary presentations, break-out discussions and a set of 4 moderated “policy sessions” focused on Education, Employment, Social Security and Public Health this conference shared the latest evidence, hear the perspectives and voices of youth and looked critically at the policy choices that were made. Disrupted Lives also engaged speakers and participants in identifying priority policy considerations at this stage of the pandemic, and highlighted promising strategies for actively involving young people in shaping future policy.
