Children under one | statistics

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Topics: Neglect; Physical abuse; Sexual abuse; Looked after children; Under ones; Disabled children; Minority ethnic children; Child trafficking; Serious case reviews

Statistics on children under one

December 2011

Nearly half of all serious case reviews are in relation to babies under one year of age.
Infants aged under one year are more at risk of being killed at the hands of another person than any other age group in England and Wales.

Non-accidental head injury statistics

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Statistics collated from government and research on children aged under one year, one of the NSPCC's priorities.

Population statistics
Child protection register statistics
Homicide statistics
Serious case review statistics
Research statistics
NSPCC statistics

Population statistics

In the United Kingdom there were an estimated 795,200 children aged under one year in mid 2010. Over 6% of all children aged under 18 in the United Kingdom were aged under one year.

Figure rounded to the nearest hundred. From: Office for National Statistics. (2011) Table 1 in: Mid year population estimates 2010 (ZIP) . [London]: Office for National Statistics.

Child protection register statistics

England

In England, 4,630 children aged under one year and 738 unborn children were the subject of a child protection plan on 31 March 2011.
11% (4,630) of all the children subject of a child protection plan (42,690 children in total) were aged under one year (or 13% (5,368) including unborn children).
Of the 4,630 children aged under one year who were the subject of a child protection plan on 31 March 2011 in England:
2,330 were subject to a child protection plan for an intial category of neglect
740 for physical abuse
170 for sexual abuse
910 for emotional abuse
480 for multiple categories of abuse or for classificatory categories not recommended by 'Working together' (1999).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, there were 204 children aged under one year on the child protection register on 31 March 2011. No figures are given for unborn children.
8% (204) of all children on the child protection register (2,401 children in total) were aged under one year.

Scotland

In Scotland figures are only available for the age category of 0-4 year olds.
In Scotland, there were 1,277 children aged 0-4 years and 80 unborn children on the child protection register on 31 July 2011.
50% (1,277) all children on the child protection register (2,571 children in total) were aged under four years (or 53% (1,357) including unborn children).

Wales

In Wales, there were 345 children aged under one year on the child protection register on 31 March 2011. There were 10 unborn children on the child protection register.
12% (345) of all children on the child protection register (2,880 children in total) were aged under one year.
Of the 345 children under one on the Child Protection register on the 31 March 2011 in Wales:
25 were on the register for neglect and physical abuse
145 for neglect
65 of physical abuse
20 for sexual abuse
85 for emotional abuse.

From: England: Department for Education (2011) Table 5. In: Additional tables: characteristics of children in need in England, 2010-11 (Excel). London: Department for Education.

Northern Ireland: Source: Waugh, Iain and Fitzpatrick, Manny (2012) Children Order Statistical Tables for Northern Ireland 2005/6 to 2010/11 Table 1.4 Belfast: Northern Ireland, DHSSPS.

Scotland: Scottish Government (2012) Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland, No.1: 2012 Edition, CP 2010-11 - Additional Tables 6 and 7. Edinburgh: National Statistics.
Wales: Welsh Assembly Government (2010) [Report 024713] Number of children and young persons on the child protection register at 31 March by age at 31 March NS. [Cardiff]: StatsWales.

Also referenced: Department of Health (DH), Home Office and Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (1999) Working together to safeguard children: a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (PDF). London, The Stationery Office (TSO).

Homicide statistics

Infants aged under one year are more at risk of being killed at the hands of another person than any other age group in England and Wales.
On average, the under ones are 8 times more likely to be killed than older children.

This is based on a 5-year average using the Home Office figures for homicides of children aged under 16 in England and Wales.

From: Smith, Kevin (ed.) et al (2011) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2009/2010: supplementary volume 2 to crime in England and Wales 2009/2010 (PDF). London: Home Office.

On average, one baby is killed almost every two weeks in the UK.

In the last five years (2005/06 to 2009/10) the average number (rounded to the nearest whole) of homicides per year for children aged under one year were:
- England and Wales: 20
- Northern Ireland: 1
- Scotland: 2
- United Kingdom total = 23

From: England and Wales: Smith, Kevin (ed.) et al (2011) Table1.07 In: Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2009/2010: supplementary volume 2 to crime in England and Wales 2009/2010 (PDF). London: Home Office. p.35.

Northern Ireland: Correspondence with the Police Service of Northern Ireland based on the publication of: Police Service of Northern Ireland (2011) Trends in police recorded crime in Northern Ireland 1998/99 to 2010/11 (PDF). Belfast: PSNI.

Scotland: Scottish Government (2010) Table 5. In: Statistical bulletin crime and justice series: homicide in Scotland, 2009-10 (PDF). Edinburgh: National Statistics. p.14.

The proportion of child homicides in which the perpetrator is a parent is exceptionally high among infants.
Between 1995 and 1999 in England and Wales, 80% of homicide victims under one year old were killed by a parent.

From: Brookman, Fiona and Maguire, Mike (2003). Reducing homicide: a review of the possibilities (PDF). Home Office. p.16-7.

Serious case review statistics

Nearly half of all serious case reviews are in relation to babies under one year of age.
Of the 268 serious case reviews relating to incidents that occurred between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009 in England, 119 (45%) were in relation to babies under one year of age.
Of the 119 children aged under one year:
- 52 (44%) were under three months of age
- 38 (32%) were aged three to five months
- 19 (16%) were aged six to eight months
- 10 (8%) were between nine months and one year.

These figures are the& number of serious case reviews that refer to a child aged under one year. From: Brandon, M., Bailey, S. and Belderson, P. (2010) Building on the learning from serious case reviews: a two-year analysis of child protection database notifications 2007-2009 (PDF). London: Department for Education (DFE). pp.11-12.

Over a third of children subject to serious case reviews are under one year of age.
Of the 602 children related to in serious case reviews between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2011 in England, 210 (35%) were babies under one year of age.

These figures are the number of children aged under one year mentioned in all serious case reviews (one serious case review may refer to more than one child).
From: Ofsted (2011) Ages of concern: learning lessons from serious case reviews: a thematic report of Ofsted’s evaluation of serious case reviews from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2011. Manchester: Ofsted.

An analysis of 130 serious case reviews relating to infants found that domestic violence, substance misuse or parental mental health was a factor in at least 94 cases.

This is based on analysis of the 130 serious case reviews published from 1 January 2008 to 12 September 2011 from England and Wales in the NSPCC library's collection. The NSPCC collection of serious case reviews is not comprehensive; it represents all the reviews we are currently aware of. These figures are liable to be underestimates as they rely on the often limited information provided within executive summaries.
From: NSPCC (2011) An analysis of serious case reviews concerning children under one. London: NSPCC.

Research statistics

Around 26% of babies (198,000) under the age of one in the UK have parents affected by either one or a combination of: domestic violence, substance misuse, mental health problems.
14% of babies (109,000) in the UK are living with a parent who is a substance misuser.
19% of babies (144,000) in the UK have a parent who has a common mental health problem
5% of babies (39,000) in the UK have a parent who has experienced domestic violence, in the past year.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000. Please note that these are estimates based on analysis of a survey: they are not exact numbers.
From: Manning, Victoria (2011) Estimates of the number of infants (under the age of one year) living with substance misusing parents. London: NSPCC.

A population-based study conducted in South Wales and the south west of England found that the majority of subdural haemorrhages (a blood clot between the brain and the outer membrane) in children under two years of age are due to child abuse.
It is estimated that approximately 12 children per 100,000 under the age of two suffer from non-accidental subdural haemorrhage (a blood clot between the brain and the outer membrane), with at least half of these injuries being related to shaking.

From: Jayawant, S., Rawlinson, A., Gibbon, F., Price, J., Schulte, J., Sharples, P. Sibert, J.R. and Kemp, A.M.(1998) Subdural haemorrhages in infants: population based study. British Medical Journal, 317(7172): 1558-1561.

A study of the incidence of severe physical abuse of children aged 0 to 14 in Wales between 1996 and 1998 found that severe physical abuse is 120 times more common in babies aged under one, than in 5 to 13 year olds.

The research team estimated that 1 in 880 babies are seriously physically abused in their first year of life.

It was found that boys are more at risk of being severely abused than girls.

From: Sibert et al., (2002) The incidence of severe physical abuse in Wales. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26(3): 267-276. Freely view abstract or access full text by subscription: Child Abuse and Neglect, 26(3): 267-276.

A research study of a group of 69 physically abused babies aged under one were followed for three years after the abuse was first identified.

Of the 49 babies who returned to their home after child protection investigations, 15 experienced further abuse during the three year period (of which 8 were physically abused and 7 were neglected). This represents a re-abuse rate of 31%.

From: Ellaway, B.A. et al. (2004) Are abused babies protected from further abuse? Archives of Disease in Childhood, 89(9): 845-846. Freely view abstract or access full text by subscription: Archives of Disease in Childhood, 89(9): 845-846.

Inflicted head injuries that involve injury to the brain or bleeding within the structures around the brain are the leading cause of death of children who have been abused.

There is an estimated prevalence of 1:3,000 in babies of less than six months.

From: Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group and NSPCC (2009) Core-Info: head and spinal injuries in children. London: NSPCC.

NSPCC statistics

Over half (53%) of the referrals made by the NSPCC to children's services involve concerns about children in families where substance misuse, mental health or domestic violence were mentioned as a factor.
60% of the referrals made by the NSPCC to children's services involve concerns about children in families where substance misuse, mental health or domestic violence were mentioned as a factor.

The sample size was 144 referrals to social services, which represent just over 2% of all referrals made by the NSPCC between April - June 2011 (5,988 referrals). The sample is representative and was weighted by type of caller and nature of concern, with the cases selected randomly from within these groups.

From: Woods, Richard (2011) Helpline highlight: how the NSPCC protects babies. London: NSPCC.

Contact the NSPCC Information Service for information on children under one, child abuse statistics or child protection topic

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