Economic Burden of Child Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence in the United States

Viewing Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence Through a Developmental, Social-Ecological, and Survivor Lens: The Current State of the Field, Challenges, and Future Directions

“…Furthermore, children's exposure to IPV imposes a significant burden on localities, states, and society at large, made explicit over the child's lifetime and over a wide range of behaviors and outcomes, including increased use of social services, health care utilization, educational outcomes, workforce productivity, and criminal behavior. It is estimated that an IPV-exposed child's average costs to the national economy over their lifetime will reach nearly US$50,000, totaling over US$55 billion for all children exposed to IPV in the United States (Holmes, Richter, Votruba, Berg, & Bender, 2018).…”

The promotion of well‐being among children exposed to intimate partner violence: A systematic review of interventions

“…These negative developmental sequalae appear to be evident across nations and cultures; for example, the link between IPV exposure and future physical and/or sexual victimization has been found in studies conducted in the United States, China, South Africa, Colombia, India, Egypt, the Philippines, and Mexico; see Runyan, Wattam, Ikeda, Hassan, & Ramiro, 2002). Furthermore, recent work indicates that over an annual U.S. birth cohort of young adults, the health care, criminal justice and labor market costs associated with victimization amount to over $55 billion nationwide (Holmes, Richter, Votruba, Berg, & Bender, 2018). Documentation of the immense magnitude and burden of children's exposure to IPV has been met with an increased interest in the development of intervention strategies to protect this vulnerable population and promote well-being.…”

The Triple-C Impact: Responding to Childhood Exposure to Crime and Violence

“…270 Furthermore, there is a 10% increase in odds of experiencing hallucination disorders compared to non-exposed individuals. 271 Additional evidence is available regarding the effects of parental incarceration on the mental health of children, but broadly speaking, a meta-analysis found that exposure to parental incarceration at least doubles the chances that the child will experience mental health problems. 272 Further, the odds of attempting suicide is more than 150% greater among children with an incarcerated parent.…”

“…Thus, a one-to-one comparison is impossible, but rather a broader conceptual evaluation is needed in order to identify and understand the sources of existing disparities. Only one of the comparison studies measured the cost of indirect crime exposure (exposure to intimate partner violence), 271 while the remaining three studies focused on direct exposure to child maltreatment 272 and rape. 273 The child maltreatment studies covered physical and emotional neglect, as well as emotional abuse, which were not included in our analysis.…”