The Hidden Pandemic

One of the tragic hidden costs of the COVID pandemic in the United States is the large number of children who have lost a primary or secondary caregiver.

According to a recent study in Pediatrics, between April 2020 and July 2021, “more than 140,00 children under 18 lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent caregiver who provided the child’s home and basic needs.”

“Children facing orphanhood as a result of COVID is a hidden, global pandemic that has sadly not spared the united States.”

A similar study in the British journal Lancet found that more than 1.5 million around the world lost a primary or secondary caregiver.

(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 10/7/21)