Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

Educational neglect. Children in families of low SES were over 7 timesmore likely to experience educational neglect than children not in families of low SES.The incidence of educational neglect was 7.1 per 1,000 children in low-SES families,whereas the rate was 1.0 per 1,000 children not in low-SES families.Severity of Outcomes from Harm Standard MaltreatmentSocioeconomic status was significantly related to incidence in three levels ofoutcomes due to Harm Standard maltreatment: serious, moderate, and inferred harm.Serious harm. Children in families of low SES had a significantly higherrate of serious injury or harm from Harm Standard maltreatment compared to childrennot in low-SES families. The incidence rate for children in families of low SES was 9.9per 1,000 children, which is more than 5 times the rate of 1.7 per 1,000 children not inlow-SES families.Moderate harm. The incidence of children moderately harmed by HarmStandard maltreatment was 11.7 per 1,000 children in low-SES families, compared to 2.4per 1,000 children not in low-SES families. The incidence of moderate injury or harmfor children in families of low SES is nearly 5 times the rate for children not in familiesof low socioeconomic status.Inferred harm. Children in families of low SES were more than 4 timesmore likely than those in families not of low SES to experience maltreatment sufficientlysevere that harm could be inferred (0.9 versus 0.2 per 1,000 children, respectively).5.2.2 Differences in Endangerment Standard Maltreatment Relatedto Socioeconomic Status (SES)The two socioeconomic subgroups differed significantly in their risk ofmaltreatment under the less stringent Endangerment Standard, as Table 5–4 shows.Significant differences in incidence rates emerged for all Endangerment Standardcategories of abuse and neglect and the four levels of outcome severity.5–14