Clinics in Mother and Child Health

Socioeconomic Outcomes on Child Sexual Abuse

Daniel Raj^* and John Williams Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, SCalifornia, USA
^*Correspondence: Daniel Raj, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, SCalifornia, USA, Email:

Received: 05-Jul-2022, Manuscript No. CMCH-22-17327; Editor assigned: 07-Jul-2022, Pre QC No. CMCH-22-17327(PQ); Reviewed: 21-Jul-2022, QC No. CMCH-22-17327; Revised: 05-Sep-2022, Manuscript No. CMCH-22-17327(R); Published: 12-Sep-2022, DOI: 10.35248/2090-7214.22.19.424

Introduction

Concerns about child sexual assault are everywhere. Only a small percentage of sexually abused children come to the notice of Child Protection Services (CPS), despite the fact that its prevalence ranges between 8%-31% for women and 3%-17% for men. Child sexual abuse can have devastating effects on one's physical and mental health, which may last throughout one's life and even pass down to future generations (e.g., depression, attempted suicide, obesity). The effects of child sexual abuse on individual earnings during early adulthood and into middle life, however, are less understood. The rationale for early intervention initiatives intended to assist long term economic engagement among sexual abuse victims could be strengthened by clarifying the scope of these costs for both individuals and society.

About the Study

Studies of young adult populations have provided the majority of the evidence to date about the potential impact of sexual abuse on socioeconomic results. Despite taking into consideration their childhood socioeconomic situations, these studies found that those who experienced sexual abuse. Children performed worse academically were more likely to be unemployed and received welfare help in their early adulthood (18-25 years) (e.g., parental earnings). These findings give rise to worries that childhood sexual abuse may have a deleterious impact on socioeconomic standing in later life. But as far as we are aware, only four longitudinal studies have looked into connections between childhood sexual abuse and socioeconomic status by mid adulthood.

Only one of these researches looked at sexual abuse via official records, it found that persons with official records of sexual abuse reported earning around $11,000 less annually. Three of these studies relied on self-report measures of abuse. The studies additionally included self-report assessments of socioeconomic circumstances, which are likely to be biased (e.g., higher attrition rates among participants with lower socioeconomic status, misreporting). Furthermore, the severity of child sexual abuse can vary, and it is unclear if more severe abuse puts people at risk for negative economic results. There aren’t any researches that we are aware of that look at the hazards of child sex abuse utilizing both retrospective and formal reporting on individual incomes from official government tax data.

This perspective used a population based cohort to explore the relationship between participant employment earnings at ages 33 to 37 as determined from tax return records and participant exposure to child sexual abuse. We looked into the correlations between sexual abuse self-reported retrospectively at age 22 and sexual abuse officially reported to CPS (0-18 years old). We also looked into whether the characteristics of the sexual abuse in terms of type severity (involving penetration vs. touching/noncontact), and chronicity (i.e., one episode vs. more than one abusive episode) were associated with employment earnings among people who had reported sexual abuse. This is because people who had reported more severe forms of sexual abuse (e.g., involving penetration) might have worse outcomes in adulthood.

In addition, we calculated the potential impact of child sexual abuse on missed wages over a 40 year career. The extent of the effects of child sexual abuse, particularly those on socioeconomic results, must be documented, especially in light of the fact that low socioeconomic position is a proven risk factor for ill health and the persistence of sexual abuse over generations.

Conclusion

Overall, our study implies that child sexual abuse may be a factor in mid-adult socioeconomic inequality. These disparities were particularly obvious for the most severe types of maltreatment (official reports to CPS, intra familial abuse, and penetration). Aiding sexual abuse victims to achieve their full economic potential will assist prevent intergenerational transmission of child sexual abuse and maltreatment because wages are a sign of good ageing, longevity, and can protect against it.