Eviction bans linked to drop in child abuse reports

Eviction bans implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic had an unexpected positive benefit for America’s children, a new study says.

Reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse and child neglect all fell during U.S. eviction bans, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

Results show counties that enacted eviction bans during the pandemic saw rates of mistreatment drop. Researchers found reductions in:

• Physical abuse by 16%
• Sexual abuse by 21%
• Child neglect by 12%

Essentially, families safe from potential eviction are less likely to mistreat their children, researchers concluded.

“Our findings align with evidence of the positive effects of housing support programs in mitigating child maltreatment risk,” concluded a team led by Liwei Zhang, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia School of Social Work. “Previous studies have highlighted the link between housing insecurity —manifested in home foreclosure and eviction filings—and increased child maltreatment reports.”

During the economic shock of the pandemic, governments enacted a number of measures to protect low-income families.

These included eviction bans, which were implemented on the federal, state and local level to keep families in their homes even if breadwinners lost their jobs.

Previous studies have linked financial hardship and housing instability to child abuse, and these eviction bans provided a “natural experiment” to test that link, researchers wrote.

For the study, researchers tracked child maltreatment reports from 318 counties in 17 states between January 2019 and August 2021, including 185 counties in 10 states that had consistent eviction bans during that period.

They found that child abuse and neglect reports fell significantly in counties where eviction bans were in place, compared to counties without them.

“Given the growing body of research suggesting a causal link between income and both child maltreatment and [Child Protective Services] involvement, programs offering cash or rental assistance have the potential to effectively reduce eviction threats and, thereby, child maltreatment,” researchers concluded.

However, these positive effects have likely faded with the end of pandemic-era eviction bans, they added.

After federal eviction bans ended in August 2021, “eviction cases surged in the first two months of the year, as well as the CPS reports comparing fiscal year 2022 with 2021, highlighting the vulnerability of low-income families to both eviction and CPS involvement,” researchers wrote.

Dr. Lydia Furman, an associate editor of Pediatrics, wrote about the new study in an American Academy of Pediatrics blog post.

“Housing matters, and stability of housing is clearly and directly important to the health and welfare of families and children,” she wrote.

“At least in the context of the pandemic, eviction [bans] appear to be an evidence-based method of decreasing child physical and sexual abuse and neglect, and merit strong consideration as a key policy initiative for study in the post-pandemic period,” Furman’s post continued. “If preventing evictions has potential to reduce child maltreatment reports, let’s begin the work now.”

Researchers said future studies should look into whether housing stability was the main reason why child abuse reports declined during eviction bans.

Other pandemic-era policies like extended unemployment insurance, stimulus checks, child tax credits or changes in school attendance might also have influenced risk of child abuse, they noted.

Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Eviction bans implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic had an unexpected positive benefit for America’s children, a new study says.

Reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse and child neglect all fell during U.S. eviction bans, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

Results show counties that enacted eviction bans during the pandemic saw rates of mistreatment drop. Researchers found reductions in:

• Physical abuse by 16%
• Sexual abuse by 21%
• Child neglect by 12%

Essentially, families safe from potential eviction are less likely to mistreat their children, researchers concluded.

“Our findings align with evidence of the positive effects of housing support programs in mitigating child maltreatment risk,” concluded a team led by Liwei Zhang, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia School of Social Work. “Previous studies have highlighted the link between housing insecurity —manifested in home foreclosure and eviction filings—and increased child maltreatment reports.”

During the economic shock of the pandemic, governments enacted a number of measures to protect low-income families.

These included eviction bans, which were implemented on the federal, state and local level to keep families in their homes even if breadwinners lost their jobs.

Previous studies have linked financial hardship and housing instability to child abuse, and these eviction bans provided a “natural experiment” to test that link, researchers wrote.

For the study, researchers tracked child maltreatment reports from 318 counties in 17 states between January 2019 and August 2021, including 185 counties in 10 states that had consistent eviction bans during that period.

They found that child abuse and neglect reports fell significantly in counties where eviction bans were in place, compared to counties without them.

“Given the growing body of research suggesting a causal link between income and both child maltreatment and [Child Protective Services] involvement, programs offering cash or rental assistance have the potential to effectively reduce eviction threats and, thereby, child maltreatment,” researchers concluded.

However, these positive effects have likely faded with the end of pandemic-era eviction bans, they added.

After federal eviction bans ended in August 2021, “eviction cases surged in the first two months of the year, as well as the CPS reports comparing fiscal year 2022 with 2021, highlighting the vulnerability of low-income families to both eviction and CPS involvement,” researchers wrote.

Dr. Lydia Furman, an associate editor of Pediatrics, wrote about the new study in an American Academy of Pediatrics blog post.

“Housing matters, and stability of housing is clearly and directly important to the health and welfare of families and children,” she wrote.

“At least in the context of the pandemic, eviction [bans] appear to be an evidence-based method of decreasing child physical and sexual abuse and neglect, and merit strong consideration as a key policy initiative for study in the post-pandemic period,” Furman’s post continued. “If preventing evictions has potential to reduce child maltreatment reports, let’s begin the work now.”

Researchers said future studies should look into whether housing stability was the main reason why child abuse reports declined during eviction bans.

Other pandemic-era policies like extended unemployment insurance, stimulus checks, child tax credits or changes in school attendance might also have influenced risk of child abuse, they noted.

Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.