Skip over main navigation
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • Pages
  • Alex’s Story
Child Bereavement UK

Call our Helpline0800 02 888 40

Donate
Menu
  • Support & information
    • Find support
      • Child Bereavement UK support services
      • Booked telephone support
      • About our Helpline
      • Coronavirus (COVID-19) information - our services
      • Find other organisations near you
      • ‎Participate in research
      • What is bereavement?
    • When a baby or child dies
      • When your baby dies
      • Grieving for a child of any age
      • How we grieve and what may help
      • Supporting bereaved adults
    • When a child or family grieves
      • Coronavirus information
      • When someone is not expected to live
      • Telling a child that someone has died
      • Sudden death - including accidents, suicide and homicide
      • Supporting bereaved children and young people
    • For young people
      • Support for young people
      • The path of grief
      • Coronavirus resources for young people
      • Young people’s experiences
      • Young people's films
      • Helping a bereaved young person
    • For the education sector
      • What we provide
      • Supporting a bereaved pupil
      • Managing a sudden death
      • Coronavirus – supporting pupils
      • Returning to school - A different normal
      • Early years
      • Primary schools
      • Secondary schools
      • Further/Higher education
      • Fundraising for schools
      • Elephant's Tea Party
    • For professionals
      • Training for professionals
      • Working with bereaved families
      • Easy Read guides for adults
      • Supporting Gypsy and Traveller families
    • Books, films and resources
      • Resources when a baby or child dies
      • Resources when someone is not expected to live
      • Resources for children and young people
      • Resources for adults supporting bereaved children and young people
      • Resources for bereavement by sudden death
      • Watch our short guidance films
      • Information by topic
  • Training
    • About training
      • What we offer
      • Accredited training
      • Helpful information
      • Terms and conditions
    • Book training
      • Webinars
      • All training events
      • Conferences
      • Masterclasses
    • Support for professionals
      • Looking after yourself
      • Working with bereaved families
    • Bespoke training
    • Consultancy, Supervision and Reflective Practice
    • Bereavement in the workplace
      • Manage bereavement within your workplace
  • Get involved
    • Donate
      • Make a donation or set up a regular gift
      • Make a donation in memory
      • Leave a gift in your Will
    • Fundraise for us
      • Take on a challenge
      • Fundraising ideas and resources
      • Request your fundraising pack
      • Our fundraisers' stories
      • Our fundraising promise
    • Child Bereavement UK Events
      • Jog on January
      • Hold a snowdrop remembrance walk
      • Ladies Lunch London
    • ˃ Volunteer with us
    • ˃ Become a corporate partner
    • Other ways to support our work
    • ˃ Information for Trusts
  • About us
    • ˃ UK death and bereavement statistics
    • About Child Bereavement UK
      • Our history
      • Our impact
      • What we do
      • Development projects in Scotland
      • Development projects in England
      • Accreditations and Awards
    • Films
      • Short guidance films
      • One More Minute campaign films
      • Families' experiences
      • Young people's films
      • Our Impact Film
      • Short animated films
    • Case studies
      • Death of a baby
      • Death of a child
      • Death of a parent
      • Parenting a bereaved child
      • Professionals
    • Who we are
      • Royal Patron
      • Patrons
      • Advisors
      • Trustees
      • Senior Management Team
    • News
      • Press releases
      • Newsletters
      • Newsletter sign up
      • Blog
      • Coronavirus (COVID-19) information
    • Contact us
      • Contact us
      • Work with us
    • Partnerships
      • Partnerships, collaborations and memberships
      • Air Ambulance Training Partnership
      • Royal Life Saving Society Partnership
  • Shop
  • Admin
    • Log in
    • Pages
    • Alex’s Story
  • Basket: (0 items)
  1. About us
  2. ˃ UK death and bereavement statistics

UK death & bereavement statistics



UK Statistics

  • A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK; around 23,600 a year. This equates to around 111 children being bereaved of a parent every day.
  • 1 in 29 5-16 year olds has been bereaved of a parent or sibling - that's a child in every average class.

In 2017 in the UK*:

  • 5821 people died by suicide
  • 3200 babies were stillborn – that’s around 9 babies every day
  • 6,608 babies and children under 5 died – that’s more than 18 every day
  • 869 school aged children (5-16 year-olds) died
  • 7653 babies, children and young people (under the age of 18) died – that’s 21 every day

*Source: Child Bereavement UK: Office for National Statistics; National Records of Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency



Maternal deaths in England & Wales

An estimated 1% of children born between 1971 and 2000 experienced maternal bereavement before the age of 16 years in England and Wales.

This could mean that around 7,000 children are currently born each year who will go on to experience the death of their mother before the age of 16 years across both countries.

It is estimated that the number of children who lost a father by this age could be around twice as high as the number who lost a mother.

Source: Office for National Statistics 2019

 


Child Bereavement UK YouGov Survey

Child Bereavement UK conducted an Omnibus Survey in 2016. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2036 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th – 30th June 2016. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Download the figures here
YouGov Survey 2016

Published: 15th August, 2018

Updated: 19th February, 2020

Author:

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Callum

    Callum

    Callum Jenkins is planning to cycle approximately 10,000 miles from his  home just outside Cambridge to Cape Town in South Africa to fundraise for Child Bereavement UK in memory of his father who died when Callum was fourteen years old,

  • The Invisible Suitcase

    The Invisible Suitcase

    Watch our animation which aims to help bereaved children and families understand grief and manage their feelings.

  • When a Child Dies - Supporting Parents & Families

    Webinar - 9 February 2021

  • Teenagers and Bereavement

    Webinar - 3 February 2021

Most read

  • Supporting bereaved children and young people

    Supporting bereaved children and young people

    Children and young people grieve just as much as adults but they show it in different ways. Find out how you can help them and more about child grieving.

  • Genevieve

    Genevieve

  • Telling a child that someone has died

    Telling a child that someone has died

    It is important to tell a child of any age when someone important in their lives has died, and ideally this is done by someone who is closest to them.

  • Supporting a bereaved pupil

    Supporting a bereaved pupil

    This comprehensive, free-to-access resource , Supporting a bereaved pupil has been developed by Child Bereavement UK in collaboration with the London Grid for Learning.

  • What we offer

    What we offer

    Child Bereavement UK provides a wide range of training, consultancy and support services to help professionals help bereaved children and families

  • When your baby dies

    When your baby dies

    When a baby lives only a short time or dies before birth due to miscarriage, stillbirth or a painful decision to end the pregnancy, people may assume that the loss is not important. This is simply not the case.

  • Claudia Winkleman becomes Patron of Child Bereavement UK

    Claudia Winkleman has become a Patron of Child Bereavement UK, a charity which supports families and educates professionals both when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, and when a child is facing bereavement.

  • UK death & bereavement statistics

    UK death & bereavement statistics

    A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK; around 23,600 a year. This equates to around 111 children being bereaved of a parent every day.

  • Grieving for a child of any age

    Grieving for a child of any age

    The agony of losing a child of any age is unparalleled. There is no age or point in time that makes it any easier. No parent expects to face the death of their child and no grandparent expects to lose their grandchild.

  • Coronavirus – supporting bereaved children

    Frightening events widely reported in the media, such as the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, can cause children to worry about themselves and others.

Tag cloud

Child Bereavement UK Death of a baby Death of a parent Explaining death to children films Information Sheet 2020 Milton Keynes parenting a bereaved child returning to school Same Sex Couple short film short guidance films Stillbirth Watford Young People's Advisory Group YPAG
Sign up to our news

Please sign up to our newsletter. We will keep you up to date by email with the latest news, activities and services. We'll never sell or swap your details with anybody else. You are free to change your mind at anytime.

  • Contact us
  • Work with us
  • Sitemap
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility
  • Admin
  • My details
  • Log out
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

Registered in England and Wales: 1040419 and Scotland: SCO42910

Copyright 2018 Child Bereavement UK