A new study provides a heartbreaking reminder of the pain caused by the covid-19 pandemic. It is estimated that nearly 40,000 children in the U.S. have lost at least one parent to the virus since February this year. The study also found that more than 100,000 children would lose a parent if the virus went on indefinitely.
There have been previous attempts to grief caused by pandemic deaths in the US, now more than half a million. A recent poll in March, for example, found that nearly one in five Americans knew someone personally who died of covid-19. But this study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, it seems to be the first to focus specifically on children.
“There’s a story that children are not so much affected by the virus because they do not get as sick and have lower mortality rates than older adults,” studies author Rachel Margolis, a sociologist and demographer at Western University in Ontario, Canada, Gizmodo said in an email. ‘However, children are greatly affected by dying family members, which is why we investigated in this paper how often children lose a parent.
Margolis and her colleagues relied on previous research to determine the impact of any deaths on family members. In this case, they tried to estimate the average number of children under 18 who would be associated with a single death at 19 based on what we know of the U.S. population and the deaths so far linked to the pandemic. They also compared what they found with the estimated number of children a parent would lose in a non-pandemic year.
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On average, the authors calculated that each death from covid-19 in the U.S. would likely leave 0.078 children without a parent. It comes quickly when you consider how many people in the US died from the pandemic.
Between February 2020 and February 2021, their best estimate was that 37,300 children lost at least one parent to covid-19, based on the approximately 479,000 deaths documented during that time. Most of these children are estimated to be in their teens. When they consider excess deaths – deaths above the annual average that represent the direct and indirect toll of covid-19 – they estimate that 43,000 children lost a parent to the pandemic. Compared to a normal year, they also calculated that the pandemic led to an increase in parental mortality from 17.5% to 20.2%.
“By comparison, the September 11, 2001 attacks left 3,000 children without a parent,” the authors wrote. “The burden will increase as the death toll continues to rise.”
Some 70,000 Americans have died from covid-19 since February, according to to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while our highly effective vaccines will soon have to turn the tide against the pandemic, hundreds of people are still dying every day, while hospitalizations and daily new cases remain relatively high. Yet things could have been worse. In the worst case, where the vaccines did not come and the pandemic could kill 1.5 million people in the US before herd immunity was reached, the authors estimated that probably 116,900 children would lose a parent.
Even if the pandemic is finally over, there will still be those left to mourn the lost. Another study last year, conducted by the same authors behind this new research, found that each death in the U.S. 19 leaves an average of about 9 family members. And as with the pandemic itself, these losses will affect some groups excessively more than others. In this current study, black children accounted for 20% of parental deaths, although this represents only 14% of children.
“Our research shows that children experience different types of risks than those faced by older adults, but they are not immune,” Margolis said. ‘In addition, many adults have lost parents or other family members. There are serious consequences of mourning, and especially for children at increased risk for poor mental health and economic stress. ‘
Elderly people remain the most vulnerable to dying from covid-19, but the largely uncontrolled pandemic has nonetheless claimed the lives of many younger Americans. According to CDC data, more than 100,000 people under the age of 65 died from it. Given their results, the researchers argue that more needs to be done to help the people, especially children who are most directly affected by all these deaths.
‘My hope is that we take the grieving process seriously as we move out of the pandemic. “I would like to see more governments offer mourning leave,” Margolis said. ‘As for the specific children who have lost a parent, we also need to find out who these children are, connect them to local services and help them get short and long term support. We know it’s hard to lose a parent. It’s even harder when we can not gather and support each other. ”
This article was updated with comments from one of the authors of the study.