The total lifetime estimated financial costs associated with just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect) is approximately $124 billion, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in Child Abuse and Neglect, The International Journal.

The study looked at confirmed child maltreatment cases, 1,740 fatal and 579,000 non-fatal, for a 12-month period. Additional findings show:
• The estimated average lifetime cost per death is about $1.3 million, almost all of it money the child would have earned over a lifetime if she or he had lived:
o $14,100 in medical costs
o $1,258,800 in productivity losses
• The estimated average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment is $210,012, including:
o $32,648 in childhood health care costs
o $10,530 in adult medical costs
o $144,360 in productivity losses
o $7,728 in child welfare costs
o $6,747 in criminal justice costs
o $7,999 in special education costs

The costs associated with every victim of child maltreatment who lives is comparable to other costly health conditions such as stroke, which has a lifetime cost per person estimated at $159,846 or type 2 diabetes, which is estimated between $181,000 and $253,000.

Child maltreatment can also be linked to many emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems. Associated emotional and behavioral problems include aggression, conduct disorder, delinquency, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, intimate partner violence, teenage pregnancy, anxiety, depression, and suicide.

A promising array of prevention and response programs have great potential to reduce child maltreatment. Given the substantial economic burden of child maltreatment, the benefits of prevention will likely outweigh the costs for effective programs.

Learn More
• View this report:
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment/EconomicCost.html
• CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention:
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention
• CDC’s Child Maltreatment Prevention Work:
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment
• Follow us on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/vetoviolence
• Child Abuse and Neglect, The International Journal:
www.journals.elsevier.com/child-abuse-and-neglect
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333 • 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)

What’s an ACE?

Growing up experiencing any of the following conditions in the household prior to age 18:

The ACE Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente.  Led by Co-principal Investigators Robert F. Anda, MD, MS, and Vincent J. Felitti, MD, the ACE Study is perhaps the largest scientific research study of its kind, analyzing the relationship between multiple categories of childhood trauma (ACEs), and health and behavioral outcomes later in life.

1. Recurrent physical abuse
2. Recurrent emotional abuse
3. Contact sexual abuse
4. An alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household
5. An incarcerated household member
6. Someone who is chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal
7. Mother is treated violently
8. One or no parents
9. Emotional or physical neglect

The ACE Score

The ACE Study used a simple scoring method to determine the extent of each study participant’s exposure to childhood trauma.  Exposure to one category (not incident) of ACE, qualifies as one point. When the points are added up, the ACE Score is achieved.  An ACE Score of 0 (zero) would
mean that the person reported no exposure to any of the categories of trauma listed as ACEs above.  An ACE Score of 9 would mean that the person reported exposure to all of the categories of trauma listed above.  The ACE Score is referred to throughout all of the peer-reviewed publications about the ACE Study findings.