Child cruelty and neglect offences increased by a quarter last year as the country emerged from the pandemic.
The findings from the NSPCC follow a Freedom of Information request to police forces in England the leading child protection charity found there were 26,307 offences recorded in 2021/22 – an average of 72 a day – which is a 25% rise from last year.1
NSPCC experts warned at the start of the pandemic that an increase in stressors to parents and caregivers, coupled with an increase in children’s vulnerability, and a disruption in normal protective services would lead to an increased risk of abuse.
The charity is highlighting the worrying scale of the problem on its flagship Childhood Day, and two weeks on from the publication of the Independent Review into Children’s Social Care and the National Review into the deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson.
Both reviews, alongside this new data, reinforce the need for a reset of the child protection system. The NSPCC wants to see children’s social care in England focused on early intervention, with children at its heart. And above all, political leadership from the very top of Government.
As thousands of people come together today to back the NSPCC’s Childhood Day, the charity is emphasising that everyone has a responsibility to keep children safe from abuse and neglect.
