Child Abuse and Neglect Cost the US $124 Billion

So suggest the authors of a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The researchers looked at 1,740 fatal and 579,000 non-fatal confirmed child maltreatment (neglect and physical, sexual, and psychological abuse) cases for a 12-month period and determined that the lifetime cost for each victim who lived was about $210,000. This was higher than such other costly health conditions as stroke and Type-2 diabetes.

The costs for each victim of non-fatal maltreatment included about $33,000 in childhood healthcare costs, $10,500 in adult medical costs, $144,360 in productivity losses, nearly $8,000 in child welfare costs, and $15,000 combined in special education and criminal justice costs. The costs were even higher when the maltreatment victims died.