Unemployment Rates, Single Parent Density, and Indices of Child Poverty: Their Relationship to Different Categories of Child Abuse and Neglect

• NCJ Number: 171003
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1998) Pages: 79-90
• Author(s): B Gillham; G Tanner; B Cheyne; I Freeman; M Rooney; A Lambie
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 12 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Nuffield Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Data from Glasgow, Scotland from 1991 to 1993 were analyzed to determine the relationships between rates and types of child abuse and neglect and the levels of female and male unemployment, the proportion of single-parent families, and child poverty in the immediate area.

Abstract

The research used data on 5,551 referrals and 1,450 registered cases of child abuse and neglect and official statistics on the child population, social worker ratio, unemployment rates, single-parent density, means-tested clothing grants, and free school meals for children. The data were analyzed by means of multiple correlational techniques. Results revealed substantial correlations with all indicators of deprivation; the relationship between physical abuse and rates of male unemployment was particularly strong. Lower and more variable correlations existed with female unemployment rates. Child sexual abuse and child neglect rates had a less consistent relationship with the indicators of deprivation than did child physical abuse. In general, male unemployment rates alone accounted for two-thirds of the variance in total child abuse and neglect rates; the other factors added little or nothing to the variance. Findings demonstrated the importance of selecting small and relatively homogeneous areas for this kind of analysis to achieve ecological validity. Male unemployment rates at this level allow for the ranking of areas in terms of priority need. Tables and 18 references (Author abstract modified)