Child Abuse‐related Deaths, Child Mortality (0–4 Years) and Income Inequality in the USA and Other Developed Nations 1989–91 v 2013–15: Speaking Truth to Power

Abstract

The major concern for social work, namely child abuse‐related deaths (CARD), involves parental neglect. Societal neglect, when measured by child mortality rates (CMR), is considered by bodies such as UNICEF to be indicative of how a nation meets the needs of its children. This population‐based study analyses CARD and CMR for children aged from newborn to four years old between 1989–91 and 2013–15 to identify any relative child neglect in the USA and 20 other developed nations (ODN).World Health Organization data were used for CARD, CMR and undetermined deaths (UnD), a possible source of unreported CARD, juxtaposed against World Bank income inequality data.The USA had the highest number of CARD, the highest CMR and the worst income inequality. Five countries reduced their CARD significantly more than the USA, and 14 countries reduced their CMR more than the USA. Income inequality and CMR were correlated.Had the USA matched the CMR of Japan, where income inequality was narrowest, there would have been on average 16 745 fewer child deaths annually.CARD and UnD correlated, suggesting that UnD may contain unreported CARD. US CMR data indicate that services in the USA are less effective than those in ODN, possibly due to income inequality. These results will be unwelcome but child protection services must dare to speak truth to power.‘This population‐based study analyses CARD and CMR for children aged from newborn to four years old between 1989–91 and 2013–15 to identify any relative child neglect in the USA and 20 other developed nations’Key Practitioner Messages The richest country in the world, the USA, has the highest rates of child abuse and total child mortality in the Western world. The USA has the highest income inequality in the West, highlighting the statistical link between child mortality and poverty. Children's services should lead the call for the necessary changes and ‘speak truth to power’.

Child Protection Work: ‘How Can We Make It a Better Experience?’

“…The first by Aislinn Conrad and colleagues (2020) from the University of Iowa School of Social Work was conducted to examine the extent to which the US child welfare system acts as an informal income maintenance programme. This paper highlights the burden of child poverty in the US, as discussed previously by Pritchard et al (2019) in Child Abuse Review, and particularly for those families involved with the child welfare system. The literature review included nine studies which met the inclusion criteria, although no information is provided about the appraisal or data extraction processes.…”

“…This paper highlights the burden of child poverty in the US, as discussed previously by Pritchard et al . (2019) in Child Abuse Review , and particularly for those families involved with the child welfare system. The literature review included nine studies which met the inclusion criteria, although no information is provided about the appraisal or data extraction processes.…”

A Population-Based Study of 33 Causes of Death amongst America’s Five Ethnic Populations 2015. In Pursuit of Social Justice

“…In the richest country in the world, based upon World Bank `Income Inequality' rates, the USA has the widest gap of all twenty-one Western countries. This is statistically linked to the US having the highest child (0-4) and adult mortality rates in the West, despite spending proportionately more of its GDP on health (Pritchard et al, 2019;2020a). This indicates that America is the least equal society in the West, which is linked to a range of health and social disadvantages of ethnic minorities and though these findings of ethnic minorities occurs throughout the West, including countries such as France, Sweden and the UK etc ).…”

COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Peak Years of Influenza & Suicide Deaths by Age in Ten Western Countries 1979-2016: An Alert for Psychiatry and Children’s Services

“…Yet the key difference between peaks of suicides and influenza epidemics and pandemics is that the viral break-out usually ends within two or three years at the most, whereas mental behaviour disorders, related to domestic violence, child abuse and suicide persist as long as the severe socio-economic disruption continues, crucially linked to unemployment and relative poverty [6] [16]. So if the IMF forecast is accurate and the economic situation post-COVID-19 will be as catastrophic as the great depression, the effects will likely last for more than a decade.…”

“…Moreover, there is unequivocal evidence that, even in the Western world, relative poverty is still strongly associated with child (0 -4) mortality. This is reflected in two stark statistics; first the USA has both the highest relative poverty and child mortality in the West and second Britain has the third highest relative poverty and fifth highest child mortality [16]. Conversely, the four least unequal countries, Finland, Japan, Norway and Sweden, had the four lowest rates of child mortality in 2015 [16].…”