Maps, figures, and tables of COVID-19 associated orphanhood and caregiver death in the US are provided by the Global Reference Group on Children Affected by COVID-19*. The data should be interpreted as minimum estimates, and are based on peer-reviewed methods described in Hillis, Blenkinsop, Villaveces et al, “COVID-19–Associated Orphanhood and Caregiver Death in the United States”, Pediatrics, 2021, doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-053760. Data are updated every 3 months, following the release of updated all-cause excess deaths for the US.

We are using the following definition of orphanhood and loss of primary and secondary caregivers:

We define racial and ethnic groups according to the US Census Bureau groupings as follows:

Hispanic
Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic Black
Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native
Non-Hispanic Asian

Total caregiver loss

Caregiver	Hispanic	White	Black	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian	Total
Orphaned (lost one or both parents)	94,466 [93,880-95,234]	110,662 [110,037-111,305]	74,807 [74,327-75,353]	8,877 [8,738-9,341]	10,463 [10,311-10,671]	299,275 [298,414-300,708]
Lost a primary caregiver	100,124 [99,534-100,900]	125,881 [125,259-126,546]	81,519 [81,031-82,079]	9,857 [9,717-10,335]	11,012 [10,867-11,227]	328,393 [327,522-329,870]
Lost a primary or secondary caregiver	115,845 [115,217-116,641]	148,354 [147,728-149,034]	90,052 [89,553-90,634]	10,659 [10,522-11,151]	14,066 [13,914-14,302]	378,976 [378,073-380,512]
Data from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023

Disparities

Children who lost a primary or secondary caregiver, reported as rates (per 100,000 children), as the proportionate burden (100,000/rate), and as a rate ratio (relative to White children).

Race/ethnicity	Loss of Parents or Caregivers per 100,000 Children of Each Race and Ethnicity	Reported as Proportionate Burden	Reported Relative to White Children
White	383 [381-385]	1 of 260 [259-262]	1 [1.00-1.00]
Black	831 [826-837]	1 of 120 [119-121]	2.17 [2.15-2.19]
American Indian or Alaska Native	1546 [1,525-1,618]	1 of 64 [61-65]	4.04 [3.98-4.23]
Asian	335 [332-341]	1 of 298 [293-301]	0.88 [0.86-0.89]
Hispanic	608 [605-612]	1 of 164 [163-165]	1.59 [1.58-1.60]
Total	516 [514-518]	1 of 193 [193-194]
Data from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023

Spatial distribution

Total

Total number of children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

Hispanic

Hispanic children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

White

White children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

Black

Black children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

Asian

Asian children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

American Indian or Alaska Native

American Indian or Alaska Native children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

Data from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023. The colour scales in each plot differ to reflect the population sizes of each racial/ethnic group. Input data for orphanhood and caregiver loss estimates are not available for Puerto Rico.

States with the highest burden

The following figures compare states and racial and ethnic groups by different measures: absolute, relative to the child population size in each state, and relative to the White population.

Children losing a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID-19

Data from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023. States are ordered by the absolute number of children losing a primary or secondary caregiver.

Children losing a primary or secondary caregiver per 100,000 children in each state

Data from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023. States are ordered by the number of children losing a primary or secondary caregiver relative to the total child population size in each state.

Disparities

Data from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023. States are ordered by the disparities in orphanhood and caregiver death.

RR = rate ratio of lost caregivers per 100,000 Hispanic or non-White children relative to lost caregivers per 100,000 non-Hispanic White children.

United States and state-by-state view

For each state, the number of children who lost a primary or secondary caregiver is reported, followed by racial and ethnic disparities. The figure compares the share of the population, COVID-19-associated deaths and children who lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

US total

378,976 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Alabama

7,597 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Alaska

1,179 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Arizona

14,013 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Arkansas

4,157 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

California

47,158 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Colorado

6,755 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Connecticut

2,794 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Delaware

1,018 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

District of Columbia

985 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Florida

26,567 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Georgia

15,139 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Hawaii

695 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Idaho

1,940 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Illinois

10,951 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Indiana

7,778 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Iowa

2,326 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Kansas

3,046 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Kentucky

6,623 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Louisiana

7,833 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Maine

1,260 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Maryland

5,195 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Massachusetts

3,548 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Michigan

8,622 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Minnesota

4,890 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Mississippi

5,139 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Missouri

6,765 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Montana

1,389 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Nebraska

1,414 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Nevada

4,772 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

New Hampshire

587 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

New Jersey

7,883 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

New Mexico

4,978 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

New York

17,916 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

North Carolina

13,611 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

North Dakota

953 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Ohio

10,544 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Oklahoma

5,039 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Oregon

4,132 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Pennsylvania

9,080 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Rhode Island

581 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

South Carolina

7,821 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

South Dakota

1,438 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Tennessee

12,913 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Texas

43,548 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Utah

2,970 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Vermont

512 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Virginia

8,857 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Washington

6,700 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

West Virginia

2,784 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Wisconsin

4,020 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Wyoming

561 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver from April 1st 2020 through 30th June 2023.

Further information

Real time estimates for all countries globally are available at imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood_calculator
The US data provided on this website is based on detailed all-cause excess mortality data from NCHS, and updated quarterly.
Further estimates of US orphanhood and caregiver loss from the COVID Collaborative are available at covidcollaborative.us, based on a different methodological approach.
The differences in the US estimates shown here compared to the global real-time calculator arise from using a different data source for mortality data to calculate real-time estimates. In contrast to the quarterly, detailed all-cause excess mortality data from NCHS, the real-time estimates are based on reported COVID-19 deaths from John Hopkins data multiplied by a COVID-19 to excess death multiplier factor calculated with the best available age /sex excess deaths on 31st October. Please see the technical documentation for full details.
Global Reference Group on Children Affected by COVID-19: Susan D Hillis\(^1\), H Juliette T Unwin\(^2\), Lucie Cluver\(^{3,4}\), Lorraine Sherr\(^5\), Philip S Goldman\(^6\), Oliver Ratmann\(^2\), Christl A Donnelly\(^2\), Samir Bhatt\(^2\), Andrés Villaveces\(^1\), Alexander Butchart\(^7\), Gretchen Bachman\(^8\), Laura Rawlings\(^9\), Phil Green\(^{10}\), Chris Desmond\(^{11}\), Charles A Nelson\(^{12}\), Seth Flaxman\(^3\).
\(^1\) U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, \(^2\) Imperial College London, \(^3\) Oxford University, \(^4\) University of Cape Town , \(^5\) University College London, \(^6\) Maestral International, \(^7\) World Health Organization, \(^8\) USAID, \(^9\) World Bank, \(^{10}\) World Without Orphans, \(^{11}\) University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, \(^{12}\) Harvard University
Technical lead for providing updated estimates: Dr Alexandra Blenkinsop\(^2\)
Date first published: 17-02-2022

This is an official product of the Global Reference Group for Children Affected by COVID-19 (with members from WHO, World Bank, CDC, USAID, Imperial College, University of Oxford, University College London, Harvard University, Maestral International, and World Without Orphans); the Imperial College COVID-19 response team, from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling within the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Jameel Institute, Imperial College London; and the Department of Social Policy and Intervention and the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford.

Warranty

Imperial makes no representation or warranty about the accuracy or completeness of the data nor that the results will not constitute in infringement of third-party rights. Imperial accepts no liability or responsibility for any use which may be made of any results, for the results, nor for any reliance which may be placed on any such work or results.

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. by Imperial College London on behalf of its COVID-19 Response Team. Copyright Imperial College London 2022.