In December 2021, the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) and the N8 Research Partnership released the Child of the North report, looking at the situation facing young people in the North in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Children in the North are more likely to live in poverty than those in the rest of England – and increasingly so. Poverty is the lead driver of inequalities between children in the North and their counterparts in the rest of the country, leading to worse physical and mental health outcomes, educational attainment, and lower lifelong economic productivity. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this situation worse. Although the full impact is not yet known, modelling suggests that, without intervention, the outlook is bleak. To address the North-South productivity gap we must tackle the stark inequalities evidenced in this report, put in place a child-first place-based recovery plan, and enable the children of the North to fulfil their potential.