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Abstract
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It is no surprise to pediatricians that child abuse is a problem that continues to affect children. Nationally, 3 million reports of child abuse and neglect allegations warrant a child protective service investigation or alternative response annually, with an estimated 8 out of every 1000 children being a victim of child abuse.1 And these are only the cases that are reported.
Pediatricians have made many attempts to prevent child abuse, often with limited success. For example, abusive head trauma prevention efforts have been shown to increase parental understanding of crying but overall do not seem to lead to a significant change in the incidence of child maltreatment.2 Pediatricians need to continue to look for novel ideas to combat child abuse. In this issue of Pediatrics, Kowski et al3 provide information about the effects of income assistance programs (tax credits) on child maltreatment reports.
Poverty is a known risk factor in child maltreatment. Kowski et al3 conducted a quasi-experimental study to estimate the association between Earned Income Tax Credit/Child Tax Credits and child maltreatment reports. They found that for every $1000 in per-child tax refund in this annual lump sum payment, reports to Child Protective Services declined by 2.3% the week of payment and declined by 7.7% in the 4 weeks after payment. The authors hypothesize the continued decline to 4 weeks may be related to the length of time that debts or other financial obstacles are resolved by these tax credit funds. The findings by Kowski et al3 that there is a sustained decline in reports to Child Protective Services after receipt of the yearly tax refund raises the question: could the increase in monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit in 2021 have a more sustained decrease in reports to Child Protective Services? This is a question worth exploring.
Language: en |