Prevalence and incidence of child abuse and neglect
Key child protection statistics
March 2011
- Approximately 46,700 children in the UK are known to be at risk of abuse right now.
- One in four young adults (25.3%) were severely maltreated during childhood.
We do not know exactly how many children in the UK have been abused.
The UK does not publish statistics on the number of substantiated child abuse cases recorded every year (this would be the incidence of child abuse).
Official statistics
The number of children on child protection registers or the subject of child protection plans tell us how many children are known to be at risk of abuse right now.
This is not the same as knowing how many children have been abused.
Research indicates that abuse and neglect are both under-reported and under-recorded.
Approximately 46,700 children in the UK are known to be at risk of abuse right now1.
Latest available figures show that there were 46,705 children on child protection registers or the subject of child protection plans in the UK as at 31 March 2010:
England: 39,100
Northern Ireland: 2,357
Scotland: 2,518
Wales: 2,730
From:
Department for Education (2010) Children in need in England, including their characteristics and further information on children who were the subject of a child protection plan (Children in need census, final) year ending 31 March 2010 (PDF) . London: Department for Education.
Waugh, Iain and Fitzpatrick, Manny (2011) Children order statistical tables for Northern Ireland 2009/10 (PDF) . Belfast: Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS).
Scottish Government (2010) Children's social work statistics 2009/10 (PDF) . [Edinburgh]: Scottish Government.
Welsh Assembly Government (2010) [Report 024710] Number of children and young person on the child protection register at 31 March NS . [Cardiff]: StatsWales.
Research statistics
Research studies tell us what proportion of children suffer abuse (this is known as the prevalence of child abuse).
In 1998/9 the NSPCC carried out research with young people aged 18-24 years and published the findings in
Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom (Cawson et al, 2000).
In 2009, the NSPCC carried out a second major piece of research to give us a more up-to-date picture of child maltreatment
2. This time we interviewed young adults aged 18-24 years and children aged 11-17 years.
The full research findings have been published as
Child abuse and neglect in the UK today (Radford et al, 2011) and below are some key findings from the summary report.
18-24 year olds
- One in four young adults (25.3%) had been severely maltreated during childhood.
- One in seven young adults (14.5%) had been severely maltreated by a parent or guardian during childhood.
- One in nine young adults (11.5%) had experienced severe physical violence during childhood at the hands of an adult.
- One in nine young adults (11.3%) had experienced contact sexual abuse during childhood.
- Almost one in 10 young adults (9%) had been severely neglected by parents or guardians during childhood.
(Based on survey of 1,761 young adults aged 18-24 years).
11-17 year olds
- Around one in five children (18.6%) have been severely maltreated.
- More than one in eight children (13.4%) have experienced severe maltreatment by a parent or guardian.
- One in 14 children (6.9%) have experienced severe physical violence at the hands of an adult.
- One in 20 children (4.8%) have experienced contact sexual abuse.
- One in 10 children (9.8%) have experienced severe neglect.
(Based on survey of 2,275 children aged 11-17 years).
Comparisons with reports from adults aged 18 to 24 from previous study
- The number of young adults who reported regular physical discipline during childhood has dropped from 10% in 1998 to 2.8% in 2009.
- The number of young adults who reported regular prolonged verbal aggression during childhood has reduced significantly from 14.5% in 1998 to 6% in 2009.
- There has been little change in levels of care and supervision. Just under 10% in each study reported that they often or always had at least one problem with lack of parental care or supervision. The number reporting that they had often or always faced more than one of these parental care issues was also stable at just under 2%.
In 2009 we asked 1,761 young adults aged 18-24 year olds about their childhood experiences and compared them with responses from the previous research carried out in 1998/9 (Cawson et al, 2000).
From:
NSPCC (2011)
Child abuse and neglect in the UK today
(PDF, 1MB). London: NSPCC.
Further reading
How to find, understand and use statistics about child abuseNSPCC, 2011.
Child protection register statisticsNSPCC
Child abuse and neglect in the UK todayRadford, Lorraine et al
NSPCC, 2011.
Child maltreatment in the family: the experience of a national sample of young peopleCawson, Pat
NSPCC, 2002.
Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect.
Cawson, Pat et al.
NSPCC, 2000.
Footnotes
1. This figure is a rounding to the nearest 100 based on numbers of children subject to a child protection plan in the UK at 31 March 2010.
2. Definitions of child maltreatment used in the research:
Contact sexual abuse is defined as any sexual activity (such as touching and penetration) where a) the activity is forced or coerced b) the child is under 16 and the act involves an adult over 18 or c) the child is under 18 and the act involves a parent or guardian or person in a position of trust (as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003). It does not include sexual activity between young people aged under 18, if the acts are not forced or coerced.
Severe maltreatment includes physical violence, emotional abuse, neglect and contact sexual abuse. Abuse was classified as severe depending on: who the perpetrator was; how often it happened; if there was more than one type of abuse; if it resulted in a physical injury; if a weapon had been used; if it placed the child at risk of harm; or if it was defined by the victim as abuse.
Severe neglect includes emotional neglect or lack of physical care or supervision that would place a child at risk.
Verbal aggression is defined as: being embarrassed or humiliated, being shouted or screamed at, sworn at, called stupid or lazy, threatened with smacking or threatened with being sent away.
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