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Do the Benefits of School Closure Outweigh Its Costs?

Author

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  • Elena Raffetti

    (Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
    Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK
    Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 113 64 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Giuliano Di Baldassarre

    (Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden)

Abstract

School closure has been a common response to COVID-19. Yet, its implementation has hardly ever been based on rigorous analysis of its costs and benefits. We aim to first illustrate the unintended consequences and side effects of school closure, and then discuss the policy and research implications. This commentary frames evidence from the most recent papers on the topic from a public-health epidemiology and disaster risk reduction perspective. In particular, we argue that the benefits of school closure in terms of reduced infection rates should be better compared with its costs in terms of both short- and long-term damage on the physical, mental, and social well-being of children and society at large.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Raffetti & Giuliano Di Baldassarre, 2022. "Do the Benefits of School Closure Outweigh Its Costs?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-8, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2500-:d:755200
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peng Zhou & Xing-Lou Yang & Xian-Guang Wang & Ben Hu & Lei Zhang & Wei Zhang & Hao-Rui Si & Yan Zhu & Bei Li & Chao-Lin Huang & Hui-Dong Chen & Jing Chen & Yun Luo & Hua Guo & Ren-Di Jiang & Mei-Qin L, 2020. "Addendum: A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin," Nature, Nature, vol. 588(7836), pages 6-6, December.
    2. Peng Zhou & Xing-Lou Yang & Xian-Guang Wang & Ben Hu & Lei Zhang & Wei Zhang & Hao-Rui Si & Yan Zhu & Bei Li & Chao-Lin Huang & Hui-Dong Chen & Jing Chen & Yun Luo & Hua Guo & Ren-Di Jiang & Mei-Qin L, 2020. "A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin," Nature, Nature, vol. 579(7798), pages 270-273, March.
    3. Kelly Morgan & G. J. Melendez-Torres & Amy Bond & Jemma Hawkins & Gillian Hewitt & Simon Murphy & Graham Moore, 2019. "Socio-Economic Inequalities in Adolescent Summer Holiday Experiences, and Mental Wellbeing on Return to School: Analysis of the School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    4. John Wildman, 2021. "COVID-19 and income inequality in OECD countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(3), pages 455-462, April.
    5. Simon Cauchemez & Alain-Jacques Valleron & Pierre-Yves Boëlle & Antoine Flahault & Neil M. Ferguson, 2008. "Estimating the impact of school closure on influenza transmission from Sentinel data," Nature, Nature, vol. 452(7188), pages 750-754, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Patrinos,Harry Anthony, 2023. "The Longer Students Were Out of School, the Less They Learned," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10420, The World Bank.

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