Eviction Moratoria Reduced Child Maltreatment Rates During Pandemic
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, April 16, 2025 -- Bans on evictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to reduce child maltreatment, according to a study published online April 8 in Pediatrics.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis, policymakers issued eviction moratoria with implementation approaches varying across states. Liwei Zhang, Ph.D., from the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia in Athens, and colleagues used child maltreatment report data from 318 counties in 17 states from Jan. 1, 2019, to mid-August 2021 to examine the potential impact of state-based eviction moratoria on changes in child maltreatment report rates. Changes were compared in counties that continuously implemented eviction moratoria and those that never did, using difference-in-differences analyses.
The researchers observed a significant association for eviction moratoria with reduced biweekly reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect (coefficient estimates, −0.073, −0.034, and −0.217, respectively), representing reductions of 16.04, 21.12, and 12.17 percent, respectively. There was a negative association between eviction moratoria and overall child maltreatment report rates, but the coefficient was not statistically significant.
"Our findings are encouraging. Eviction protection policies may help prevent Child Protective Services involvement by ensuring secure housing for families," the authors write. "Future research would benefit from examining whether housing stability serves as the core mechanism that links eviction moratoria to child maltreatment."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted April 2025
Further Support and Information on COVID-19
Read this next
Swept-Source Anterior Segment OCT Can Help Distinguish Early Childhood Glaucoma
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- The noninvasive swept-source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) can diagnose early-onset childhood glaucoma, according to a study...
Semaglutide Plus Intensive Behavioral Therapy Most Beneficial for Weight Loss
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Weight loss treatment combining personalized semaglutide with intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) yields weight loss similar to that reported in...
Higher Social Media Use Tied to Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in Youth
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Higher social media use is associated with greater subsequent depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online May 21...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.