There are no precise numbers in regards to elder abuse in the United States. Largely, this is due to a lack of uniform reporting system from state-to-state. Making collecting data even more difficult is the sheer number of cases that go unreported each year. Unreliable as the statistics may be, they are anything but staggering.
- Between 1 and 2 million Americans over the age of 65 are abused, exploited or neglected by a caretaker.
- Data suggests that only 1 in 14 incidents of elder abuse in a domestic environment are reported to authorities.
- For every one case of elder abuse, neglect, self-neglect or exploitation that is reported, it is estimated another five go unreported.
- Only 1 out of 25 cases of financial exploitation are reported. This suggests that over five million financial abuse victims stay silent every year.
- In 1996, nearly 450,000 adults over the age of 60 were abused or neglected in domestic settings.
- In 2000, 54 states reported a total of 472,813 reports of elder abuse or neglect.
- In 2003, state Long Term Care Ombudsman programs across the country investigated over 20,673 claims of abuse and gross neglect in nursing homes.
