A new international study estimates that from January 1, 2020, to May, 1, 2022, nearly 8 million kids age 18 and under lost a parent or primary caregiver to a pandemic-related cause. When the researchers included the deaths of secondary caregivers like grandparents or other older relatives, the number of kids affected rose to 10.5 million.
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The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, also found that the greatest numbers of kids affected by these losses were in Africa and Southeast Asia. India has seen the most suffering, with 3.5 million children grieving the loss of a parent or primary/secondary caregiver. However, Bolivia and Peru have the highest rates of kids affected, with 1 out of every 50 children in both countries losing caregivers during the pandemic.
These children face potentially devastating consequences. The emotional toll may be what people think of first but the impact hits many areas of a child's life.
"This enormous bereavement is an economic loss," explains Lorraine Sherr, a psychologist at the University College London, and a member of the Global Reference Group, who wasn't involved in the latest estimates.
That's especially true when the parent or primary caregiver who died was the main breadwinner in the family. A family's loss of income can put kids at a higher risk of food and housing insecurity.
If a child moves to a new community or family because of the death of a parent, "it's a separation," she says. "And then there's disengagement at school and then disengagement with friendships, with things previously that made them happy or helped them learn. So you have this kind of huge cascade of losses."
Jodi