Child maltreatment is a major public health problem with significant consequences for
individual victims and for society. In this paper we quantify for the first time the economic
costs of fatal and non-fatal child maltreatment in the UK in relation to several short-, medium-, and
long-term outcomes ranging from physical and mental health problems, to labour market
outcomes and welfare use. We combine novel regression analysis of rich data from the National
Child Development Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing with secondary
evidence to produce an incidence-based estimate of the lifetime costs of child maltreatment
from a societal perspective. The discounted average lifetime incidence cost of non-fatal child
maltreatment by a primary caregiver is estimated at GBP 89,390 (95% uncertainty interval GBP 44,896
to 145,508); the largest contributors to this are costs from social care, short-term health and
long-term labour market outcomes. The discounted lifetime cost per death from child
maltreatment is estimated at GBP 940,758, comprising health care and lost productivity costs. Our
estimates provide the first comprehensive benchmark to quantify the costs of child
maltreatment in the UK and the benefits of interventions aimed at reducing or preventing it.
COVID-19 and the labour market outcomes of disabled people in the UK
