An Associated Press analysis has found that reports of child abuse plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, as children are out of the public eye and away from usual reporters of welfare problems. The chart below compares the changes across states from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, and during the pandemic in 2020. Lower reporting does not mean lower instances of abuse.
The data compared numbers of incidents by each state (not the number of incidents by population) and then measured the decline during pandemic months. No state reported an increase of child abuse reports. Hawaii saw the smallest decrease in reports with a decline of 6.2%. Utah had the seventh smallest decrease at 12.9%. Neighbors Idaho (-10%) and Nevada (-12.7%) were also among the lowest decreases by state.
Rhode Island’s -28.8% was the largest change, followed by Kentucky’s -26.6% and Alaska’s -26.5%. The chart below shows the number of reported cases and the decrease in reports.
This Associated Press chart is current as of March 23, 2021 and will not update.
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