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Oxford University finds unemployment a factor of child neglect

Credit: PA

Research carried out by Oxford University says the number of reported child neglect cases in America increased due to rising unemployment.

The study looked at the effects of the financial crisis in 2007-08.

It said it was due to parents having more limited access to resources needed for a child's basic needs.

There is increasing research on the causal effect of economic conditions on domestic violence, but this work has never been done for children, which is a very different dynamic.

– Elisabetta De Cao, Research Fellow in Oxford's Centre for Health Service Economics & Organisation

The study, conducted by two researchers from Oxford University, has for the first time, considered and quantified these causal effects, specifically whether unemployment causes child maltreatment.