Across the city, around 8,600 children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID — a population that would entirely fill 15 average-sized New York City public schools.
This staggering yet largely hidden toll of the pandemic affects more than 1 in every 200 children in New York City, nearly double the rate across the country.
Black, Hispanic and Asian children in the city are roughly three times more likely to lose a parent or caregiver to COVID compared to their white peers, according to an analysis shared with THE CITY. The statistical analysis was conducted by Dr. Dan Treglia, an associate professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania, for the
COVID Collaborative, a bipartisan group of experts advocating for more support and funding for COVID-bereaved children.
The racial disparities in New York City are more pronounced compared to the rest of the country. Across the U.S., Black children, for example, are two times more likely to lose a parent or caregiver to COVID-19 than white children. Here, they are 3.3 times more likely to suffer the same loss.
Few other events in the city have resulted in so many children losing a parent. In 1918, more than 20,000 children lost one or both parents due to the Spanish Flu. Around 3,000 children, many living in New York City, lost a parent in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Nationwide, more than 214,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19, according to an analysis by the
COVID Collaborative drawing on data from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. More than two out of three children who lost a parent or caregiver are 13 years old or younger and half of them are concentrated in six states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Arizona and Georgia.