(HealthDay News) — THURSDAY, Oct. 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) — According to studies, one out of every four COVID-19 fatalities in the United States leaves a child without a parent or other caregiver.
According to data analysis, more than 120,000 children under the age of 18 lost a primary caregiver (a parent or grandparent who provided housing, basic necessities, and care) between April 2020 and July 2021, and nearly 22,000 children under the age of 18 lost a secondary caregiver (grandparents who provided housing, but not most basic needs).
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COVID-related orphanhood is a "hidden, global pandemic that has tragically not spared the United States," study author Susan Hillis, a researcher at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated in a news release from the US National Institutes of Health.
According to a research published in the journal Pediatrics on Oct. 7, nearly one in every 500 children in the United States has become orphaned or lost a grandparent caregiver as a result of COVID-19.
Despite the fact that whites make up 61 percent of the population and individuals of racial and ethnic minorities make up 39 percent, children of racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 65 percent of children who lost a primary caregiver to COVID-19, compared to 35 percent of white children.
1 of every 168 American Indian/Alaska Native children, 1 of every 310 Black children, 1 of every 412 Hispanic children, 1 of every 612 Asian children, and 1 of every 753 white children faced orphanhood or the death of a key caregiver as a result of COVID-19.
Compared to white children, American Indian/Alaska Native children were 4.5 times more likely, Black children 2.4 times more probable, and Hispanic children 1.8 times more likely to lose a parent or grandparent caregiver.
COVID-19 caused the greatest number of children to lose their primary caregivers in states with significant populations, such as California, Texas, and New York.
Significant racial/ethnic differences between states were also discovered by the researchers.
In New Mexico, Texas, and California, Hispanic children accounted for 49 percent to 67 percent of children who had lost a primary caregiver. Black children made from 45 percent to 57 percent of children who lost a primary caregiver in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.South Dakota (55 percent), New Mexico (39 percent), Montana (38 percent), Oklahoma (23 percent), and Arizona were the states with the most American Indian/Alaska Native children who had lost a primary caregiver (18 percent ).
Children suffer substantial consequences as a result of losing a parent: According to the researchers, it is linked to mental health issues, fewer years of schooling, reduced self-esteem, high-risk sexual practices, and an increased risk of substance addiction, suicide, violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation.
"For centuries to come, we will all experience the significant immediate and long-term consequences of this situation, especially our children. One of our main priorities should be to address the loss that these children have suffered — and continue to suffer — and to weave it into all elements of our emergency response, both now and in the post-pandemic future "Hillis remarked.
The sheer number of young people affected is a sobering reminder of the tragic consequences of the past 18 months," said Imperial College London study co-lead researcher Alexandra Blenkinsop. "These data clearly show which children are the most susceptible as a result of the pandemic, and where additional resources should be directed
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