Why Invest to Prevent Child Abuse? The Budgetary Impact of Direct, Indirect and Collateral Derived Costs

María Teresa Sotelo Morales

doi:10.31031/cojnh.2018.03.000563

Abstract

Violence, and neglect in childhood, present innumerable economic costs to nations, whose impact on spending the public budget fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the annual government budget, as shown by several studies carried out in the United States, the European Union, and Mexico. The Center of Developing Child, of Harvard, emphazises that during the first years of life, the development of the brain can be physiologically altered by the prolonged and severe abuse of a child, over time, the brain of a 3 year old child, grows disproportionately large and heavy [1], reaching nearly 90% of the size of an adult brain. This alteration in the development of the brain can negatively impact the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development, whose consequences will always be present, even 30, 40 or 50 years later. International studies with significant data, are herein in summary presented. All in unison insists not only on preventing but on eradicating child maltreatment, considering this scourge as the determining element that havoc in government budgets. With an encourage exhortatory that by investing in preventing children from violence, a significant reduction in gross domestic product from 20 to 25% would be achieved

Highlights

The National Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Atlanta, published a research on the economic burden of child abuse in the United States, and the implications for prevention [2012]
The study provides a cross-sectional approach, based on the incidence of expenses resulting from the lifetime economic burden, that an infant victim of abuse and neglect represents for the country
The study presents an analogy of combined methods based on prevalence, versus the study elaborated by other colleagues Wang and Holton (2007) who point to an estimate of 103.8 billion annual costs, and justify the difference between one study and another, due to the fact that underestimates the total incidence of child abuse, because some of the results may not have been taken out for registration [4]

Summary

Introduction

The National Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Atlanta, published a research on the economic burden of child abuse in the United States, and the implications for prevention [2012]. The study provides a cross-sectional approach, based on the incidence of expenses resulting from the lifetime economic burden, that an infant victim of abuse and neglect represents for the country. The publication presents new findings regarding the analysis of 579,000 cases of non-fatal abuse, and 1,740 fatal cases of child abuse in the United States in 2008 [3] It mentions that, on average, the cost of living is projected at ($210,012) per child victim non-severe abuse, and ($1, 272,900), for victims of lifethreatening abuse. On average, the cost of living is projected at ($210,012) per child victim non-severe abuse, and ($1, 272,900), for victims of lifethreatening abuse It suggests an estimated cost for the country, of 124 billion dollars per year for the direct, indirect and collateral costs of child abuse and neglect. The study presents an analogy of combined methods based on prevalence, versus the study elaborated by other colleagues Wang and Holton (2007) who point to an estimate of 103.8 billion annual costs, and justify the difference between one study and another, due to the fact that underestimates the total incidence of child abuse, because some of the results may not have been taken out for registration [4]

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion