Working Paper: NBER ID: w29429
Authors: Amalia R. Miller; Carmit Segal; Melissa K. Spencer
Abstract: We empirically investigate the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence using incident-level data on both domestic-related calls for service and crime reports of domestic violence assaults from the 18 major US police departments for which both types of records are available. Although we confirm prior reports of an increase in domestic calls for service at the start of the pandemic, we find that the increase preceded mandatory shutdowns, and there was an incremental decline following the government imposition of restrictions. We also find no evidence that domestic violence crimes increased. Rather, police reports of domestic violence assaults declined significantly during the initial shutdown period. There was no significant change in intimate partner homicides during shutdown months and victimization survey reports of intimate partner violence were lower. Our results fail to support claims that shutdowns increased domestic violence and suggest caution before drawing inference or basing policy solely on data from calls to police.
Keywords: COVID-19; domestic violence; shutdowns; US cities
JEL Codes: I18; J12; J16; K14; K42; R28
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 shutdowns (F69) | decrease in DV assault crimes (J12) |
| COVID-19 shutdowns (F69) | increase in DV calls (J12) |
| Emergency declaration (H84) | increase in DV calls (J12) |
| COVID-19 shutdowns (F69) | no significant change in intimate partner homicides (J12) |