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Hidden Violence: How COVID-19 School Closures Reduced the Reporting of Child Maltreatment

Author

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  • Francisco Cabrera-Hernández

    (Department of Economics, University of Monterrey)

  • Marí­a Padilla-Romo

    (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee)

Abstract

This study examines how school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the reporting of child maltreatment in Mexico City. We use a rich panel dataset on incident-level crime reports and victim characteristics and exploit the di erential effects between school-age children and older individuals. While financial and mental distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic may result in additional cases of child maltreatment, synthetic control and di erence-in-di erences estimations document an average reduction in child maltreatment reports of 21% and 30%, respectively, with larger reductions among females and in higher-poverty municipalities. These results highlight the important role education professionals in school settings play in the early detection and reporting of domestic violence against school-age children.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Cabrera-Hernández & Marí­a Padilla-Romo, 2020. "Hidden Violence: How COVID-19 School Closures Reduced the Reporting of Child Maltreatment," Working Papers 2020-02, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ten:wpaper:2020-02
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    File URL: http://web.utk.edu/~jhollad3/RePEc/2020-02.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Economics of Welfare > Health Economics > Economics of Pandemics > Specific pandemics > Covid-19 > Schools

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    Cited by:

    1. Clarke, Damian & Larroulet, Pilar & Pailañir, Daniel & Quintana, Daniela, 2023. "Schools as Safety Nets: Break-Downs and Recovery in Reporting of Violence against Children," IZA Discussion Papers 15859, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Williams, Shanna & Bruer, Kaila C. & Evans, Angela D. & Price, Heather L., 2022. "The impact of COVID-19 on Canadian child maltreatment workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis & Vélez-Grajales, Roberto & López-Calva, Luis F., 2022. "The potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learnings," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Damian Clarke & Pilar Larroulet & Daniel Paila~nir & Daniela Quintana, 2022. "Schools as a Safety-net: The Impact of School Closures and Reopenings on Rates of Reporting of Violence Against Children," Papers 2206.14612, arXiv.org.
    5. Prettyman, Alexa, 2024. "Underreporting child maltreatment during the pandemic: Evidence from Colorado," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Nora Lustig & Valentina Martinez Pabon & Guido Neidhöfer & Mariano Tommasi, 2020. "Short and Long-Run Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in Latin America," Working Papers 2013, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    7. Leopoldo Gómez-Ramírez & Alexander Villarraga-Orjuela, 2021. "Expansionary Policy in Pandemics, a Dynamic Model Examination," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, Julio - S.
    8. Engzell, Per & Frey, Arun & Verhagen, Mark D., 2020. "Learning Inequality During the Covid-19 Pandemic," SocArXiv ve4z7, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child maltreatment; Domestic Violence; COVID-19; School closures;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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