An extra year of compulsory schooling significantly reduced child maltreatment and emergency hospital visits among teenagers in South Australia, according to research.
The study, published in The Review of Economics and Statistics, examined the impact of South Australia’s 2009 reform that raised the school-leaving age from 16 to 17. Researchers from Monash University and the University of South Australia found that keeping 16-year-olds in school reduced first-time child maltreatment reports by 38% and emergency department visits by 19%.
The research analysed administrative records, comparing children affected by the reform with those who were not. Public school enrolment increased by about 6%, equivalent to an average of 412 additional students each year.
“On balance, we conclude that past extensions to the school-leaving age played an important role in the lives of children exposed to child maltreatment or at risk, by improving these children’s safety,” the researchers said.
The policy particularly benefited children with previous involvement with Child Protection Services, reducing their emergency healthcare needs. Emergency department visits fell mainly because of fewer injury-related cases.
After the reform, 92 fewer children experienced first-time maltreatment each year, while 157 fewer children required emergency department care annually.
Lead author Dr Adam Dzulkipli, a research fellow at the Monash University Centre for Health Economics, said the study was the first to examine how extended schooling affected maltreatment rates in Australia.
“From a policy perspective, our results suggest that policy interventions aimed at increasing student retention and encouraging children to remain engaged with school can have a powerful impact on their safety,” Dr Dzulkipli said.
The researchers also calculated significant economic benefits from the policy. Using established Australian cost estimates, they found the reduction in first-time child maltreatment generated annual savings of $46 million in lifetime costs, including government services, productivity losses, and premature mortality.
Co-author associate professor Nicole Black, from the Centre for Health Economics, said child maltreatment rates remained unacceptably high globally, with victims facing severe adverse outcomes throughout their lives.
“Our findings suggest that the adverse outcomes suffered by maltreated children can potentially be reduced by appropriately designed policy interventions,” Black said. “Given the large individual and social costs of child maltreatment, more investment in such policies is important and would be worthwhile.”