Temperature and Maltreatment of Young Children
Presented by:
Mary Evans
LBJ School of Public Affairs
UT Austin
Friday, May 5, 2023
12:00 pm-1:15 pm
Taylor-Hibbard Seminar Room (Rm103)
We estimate the impacts of temperature on alleged and substantiated child maltreatment among young children using administrative data from state child protective service agencies. Leveraging short-term weather variation, we find increases in maltreatment of young children during hot periods. We rule out that our results are solely due to changes in reporting. Additional analysis identifies neglect as the temperature-sensitive maltreatment type, and we do not find evidence that adaptation or habituation mitigate this relationship. Given that climate change will increase exposure to extreme temperatures, understanding the temperature-child maltreatment relationship speaks to additional costs of climate change among the most vulnerable.
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