Researchers say child death rate has plummeted in the last 30 years, thanks to 'improvements in social care systems'

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

The number of violent deaths among children in England and Wales has fallen by almost 40% in the past 30 years, according to a report by researchers from Bournemouth University.

Between 1974 and 2006, the number of children aged 14 and under who are killed annually fell from 136 to 84, says the study, which was shown to the BBC ahead of publication later this year.

As a proportion of the child population, the death rate nearly halved from 32 to 17 per million children.

Prof Colin Pritchard, from the university's school of health and social care, told the BBC: "Thirty years ago England and Wales were the third or fourth highest child killers in the western world, but we're now fourth lowest.

"There's been a gradual decline in these terrible events."

The study examined nine other developed countries, with most showing similar reductions.

Spain had the lowest violent death rate, at four deaths per million children, with Italy on five.

The US figure was highest at 47 deaths per million, with Germany second highest at 21.

Pritchard said improvements in social care systems, along with a greater focus on child poverty, had helped lower the death rate.

"When these things go wrong, it is very often because the usual good working together has actually broken down," he said.