For the Press
KEY FACTS
Bereaved Parents
By age 60, nine percent of Americans have experienced the death of a child. By 70, 15 percent of American parents have lost a child. By age 80, 18 percent of American parents have experienced the death of a child.
Scientific evidence indicates that bereaved parents are more likely to suffer more depressive symptoms, poorer well-being, less purpose in life, more health complications, marital disruption, psychiatric hospitalization, and even premature death for both mothers and fathers as early as age 40.
Twenty-nine percent of black families report the death of a child, 20 percent of Hispanic families report the death of a child, 17 percent of white families report the death of a child.
Black Americans were two and a half times more likely to lose a child by the age of 20. By age 50-70, black Americans were three times more likely than whites to lose a child. By age 80, black Americans are more than four times more likely to lose a child when compared to white parents.
Bereaved Siblings
Sibling death in childhood is associated with a 71 percent increased all-cause mortality risk among bereaved persons.
Bereaved Children
Two million American minor children have a deceased biological mother or father.
Young children are more likely to be expelled from school, repeat a grade, less likely to be in gifted education programs and have a disability.
Bereaved Spouses
Forty-nine percent of husbands and 30 percent of wives died in the nine years following the death of their spouse.
For more information, see our Key Facts webpage.
Media Highlights
Thousands of Young Children Lost Parents to COVID. Where’s Help For Them?
June 2021
‘Everybody Needs Time’: Open Letter Urges President Biden To Create National Bereavement Leave Policy
May 2021
‘Pandemic Grief’ Proves Especially Devastating And Complex For Many In Mourning, Health Experts Say
April 2021
Lack of Bereavement Leave and Other Policies Fail Bereaved Families
February 2021
As Grief Sweeps Nation from Violence, COVID-19 Deaths, Survivors ‘Suffering in Silence’
January 2021
Joyal Mulheron and Casey Affleck on the State of Bereavement Care in the U.S.
January 2021
As COVID-19 Continues to Spread, Many Want The White House To Help America Mourn
November 2020
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE
BEREAVEMENT CARE IN AMERICA IS BROKEN: A CALL TO ACTION
January 2020
As Homicides Continue To Rise In D.C., Parents Of Gun Violence Victims Reflect On Their Open Wounds
January 2019
THIS LIFE: HER CHILD DIED, AND NOW SHE HEADS A CLUB THAT NO ONE WANTS TO JOIN
December 2017
Bereavement care in America is broken. Evermore believes our nation can, and should, do better.
