University of North Carolina Charlotte Study Estimates the Economic Price Tag of Domestic Violence

A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte reveals the estimated economic costs associated with domestic violence. Jennifer Troyer, a professor of economics in the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a co-author of the study, states that “domestic violence places a significant economic burden on individual victims and society. Unfortunately, current published data on the economic impact of domestic violence are limited, dated, and often fail to reflect the full range of costs.”

Calculations made in the new study estimate that domestic violence adds more than $123 million in health care expenditures due to caring for victims of domestic violence. The researchers also quantify costs associated with the need for mental health care services, value of lost property that occurs in domestic violence incidents, court/police/incarceration expenditures relating to domestic violence, lost time and productivity at work due to domestic violence, and other costs.

The researchers estimate that domestic violence produces a direct hit of more than $300 million annually on the North Carolina economy.

Professor Troyer joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1999. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Memphis and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University.