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Did the first Covid-19 national lockdown lead to an increase in domestic abuse in London?

Author

Listed:
  • Chelsea Gray

    (Metropolitan Police)

  • Kirstine Hansen

    (Social Research Institute, University College London)

Abstract

On March 23rd 2020, the UK, following close behind a number of other countries went into its first national lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19. Boris Johnson told people to stay at home and save lives. But what happens when home isn’t safe? This paper uses data from the Metropolitan Police to examine the impact of the first lockdown on domestic abuse in the 32 boroughs of the London Metropolitan area. Using a before and after approach, and controlling for other factors, we show that domestic abuse crimes rose during lockdown. We find this increase is greater for some crimes and populations than others and is consistent across the whole lockdown period. Once lockdown restrictions are eased, rates decline but remain slightly higher than prior to lockdown up to 3 months later

Suggested Citation

  • Chelsea Gray & Kirstine Hansen, 2021. "Did the first Covid-19 national lockdown lead to an increase in domestic abuse in London?," DoQSS Working Papers 21-27, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:2127
    as

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    File URL: http://repec.ioe.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp2127.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leslie, Emily & Wilson, Riley, 2020. "Sheltering in place and domestic violence: Evidence from calls for service during COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Ria Ivandic & Tom Kirchmaier & Stephen Machin, 2019. "Jihadi attacks, media and local hate crime," CEP Discussion Papers dp1615, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Payne, Jason Leslie & Morgan, Anthony, 2020. "COVID-19 and Violent Crime: A comparison of recorded offence rates and dynamic forecasts (ARIMA) for March 2020 in Queensland, Australia," SocArXiv g4kh7, Center for Open Science.
    4. Chelsea Gray & Kirstine Hansen, 2020. "Did Covid-19 lead to an increase in hate crimes towards Chinese people in London?," DoQSS Working Papers 20-05, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    5. Ivandic, Ria & Kirchmaier, Thomas & Linton, Ben, 2020. "Changing patterns of domestic abuse during Covid-19 lockdown," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108483, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Lockdown; Domestic abuse; victimisation; London;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • B55 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Social Economics
    • C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics
    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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