NATIONAL STATS
Up until 2018 The Childhood Bereavement Network published annual reports with some estimated regional statistics based around census data and deaths across the country.
This data showed that in 2015 100 parents would die leaving 170 dependent children. This figure did not include sibling deaths or figures from the surrounding areas of MK.
We were pleased to have supported a petition which was delivered to 10 Downing Street, asking government to record the number of bereaved children when deaths are recorded. Regrettably the response was not what we hoped. We know that the data gap is an issue in achieving what we need in terms of evidence to demonstrate the magnitude of the problem but with accurate data we cannot do this. However, we can share some national statistics published by CBN and CBUK.
*Childhood Bereavement Network
We estimate that around 26,900 parents die each year in the UK, leaving dependent children. That’s one parent every 20 minutes. These estimates are averages for the last three years (2019-2021).
We estimate that these parents left behind around 46,300 dependent children aged 0-17 each year. That’s 127 newly bereaved children every day.
By the age of 16, 4.7 per cent or around 1 in 20 young people will have experienced the death of one or both of their parents (Parsons, 2011).
A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK; around 23,600 a year. This equates to around 111 children being bereaved of a parent every day.
1 in 29 5-16 year olds has been bereaved of a parent or sibling – that’s a child in every average class.
In 2017 in the UK*:
- 5821 people died by suicide
- 6,608 babies and children under 5 died – that’s more than 18 every day
- 869 school aged children (5-16 year-olds) died
- 7653 babies, children and young people (under the age of 18) died – that’s 21 every day
*Source: Child Bereavement UK: Office for National Statistics; National Records of Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
