Child Abuse and Neglect, United States

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The following table shows the number and percent of child abuse and neglect in the United States between 1990 and 2012, according to type of maltreatment and sex and age of the victim.

Item 1990 1995 2000 2003 2008 2012
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Types of substantiated maltreatment                
Victims, total1 690,658 — 970,285 — 864,837 — 787,156 — 773,792 115.0% 678,810 127.5%
Neglect 338,770 49.1% 507,015 52.3% 517,118 59.8% 479,567 60.9% 549,399 71.0% 531,241 78.3%
Physical abuse 186,801 27.0 237,840 24.5 167,713 19.4 148,877 18.9 125,971 16.3 124,544 18.3
Sexual abuse 119,506 17.3 122,964 12.7 87,770 10.2 78,188 9.9 71,162 9.2 62,936 9.3
Emotional maltreatment 45,621 6.6 42,051 4.3 66,965 7.7 38,603 4.9 55,236 7.1 57,880 8.5
Medical neglect n.a. n.a. 28,541 2.9 25,498 3.0 17,945 2.3 16,783 2.2 15,705 2.3
Sex of victim                        
Victims, total 742,519 100.0 809,634 100.0 864,837 100.0 787,156 100.0 770,868 100.0 678,810 100.0
Male 323,339 43.5 381,075 47.1 413,744 47.8 378,374 48.1 373,889 48.5 330,620 48.7
Female 369,919 49.8 425,193 52.5 446,230 51.6 405,505 51.5 396,979 51.5 345,823 50.9
Age of victim                        
Victims, total 731,282 100.0 808,575 100.0 864,837 100.0 787,156 100.0 770,907 100.0 687,810 100%
1 year and younger 97,101 13.3 103,335 12.8 133,094 15.4 127,618 16.2 150,866 19.5 134,024 19.4
2 to 5 years old 172,791 23.6 215,303 26.6 205,790 23.8 196,150 24.9 194,342 25.2 182,845 26.5
6 to 9 years old 157,681 21.6 195,400 24.2 212,186 24.5 176,951 22.5 168,055 21.8 145,190 21.1
10 to 13 years old 135,130 18.5 154,682 19.1 176,071 20.4 162,838 20.7 135,838 17.6 118,021 17.1
14 to 17 years old 103,383 14.1 121,548 15.0 126,207 14.6 118,698 15.1 121,164 15.8 95,734 13.9
18 years and over 4,880 0.7 7,506 0.9 992 0.1 493 0.1 642 0.1 2,9962 0.4
NOTE: n.a. = not available. (—) = not applicable.
1. More than one type of maltreatment may be substantiated per child. Therefore, totals for this category will add up to more than 100 percent. Victim totals and maltreatment types are based on subset of states that reported both the number of child victims and maltreatment incidences by type for that year.
2. This number includes unborn, unknown, and 18–21
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006.; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Maltreatment, 2008, 2012.

 

Births

 

 
Births
Sources +
✖
 

 

sandbbox logo
©2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company.