What Is the Leading Cause of Child Abandonment?

Over 3 million reports of child abuse and neglect are made each year, according to National Child Abuse Statistics (as reported by ChildHelp). These include reports of children being abandoned by their parents or other caretakers. This can happen to any child, although there are certain factors that put a child at higher risk for being abandoned during their lifetime.

Poverty

• According to the National Poverty Center, over 14 percent of people lived in poverty in 2009. This is defined, for a family with two children, as making less than $22,000 per year. Families who live in poverty struggle to make ends meet, to put food on the table and to care properly for their children. Parents may feel their children are better off without them and choose to abandon them to the foster care system or leave them with relatives in the belief they will have a better life.

HIstory of Abandonment/Abuse

• History tends to repeat itself and this is especially true of abuse and neglect patterns. Parents who experienced abuse, neglect or abandonment at the hands of someone when they were a child are more likely to repeat the pattern and abuse, neglect or abandon their own children. UNICEF estimates that 13 million children worldwide have been abandoned by both parents for various reasons, abuse and neglect among them.

Handicap/Illness of Child

• A child born with a handicap, birth defect or chronic illness has a higher chance of being abandoned by their parents. Since infants and children are needy to begin with, parents living with a child with a chronic condition may not be able to cope with the increased demands of their child. Like parents who live in poverty, these parents believe their child will be better off without them and abandon these child to the foster care system or to live with other relatives.

Behavioral Problems

• All children experience behavior problems as they grow and learn about the world around them. For some parents, their child's misbehavior is a source of extreme stress they are unable to handle. Other parents have children with extreme, even criminal, behavior that they are unable or unwilling to control. These children are at an increased risk of being removed from their parent's care or having their parents find alternative placement situations for them.

Young Mothers

• Many young mothers struggle to meet the demands of caring for a young baby while they are still a child themselves. Other young mothers miss the teenage life and begin to resent their baby for "holding them back." Babies born to younger mothers have a greater risk for abuse, neglect and abandonment, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. These children may end up being raised by the foster care system or grandparents in the absence of their young parent.