When a parent dies by suicide: what is known about the children

No national statistics office checked for this study counts how many children have a parent who dies by suicide. Where national registers in the Nordic countries, Taiwan and Greenland have followed these children, they show higher relative risks of later suicidal behaviour than among other children, and smaller clinical studies find more depression, anxiety and shame in the first two years. Those are relative risks: where absolute figures exist, the most serious outcomes remain rare. They are shaped by many factors, not by the death alone, and the evidence on what helps is thin but points in a hopeful direction.

When a mum or dad dies by suicide, a child grieves as any bereaved child does, and also meets things other bereaved children often do not: questions about why, sometimes police and an official inquiry into the death, silence or whispering among adults, and sometimes the worry that they were somehow to blame. The surviving parent or carer is grieving the same death while trying to hold the family together. This study gathers what research worldwide shows about how many there are, how they fare and what support exists, following recognised guidelines for reporting suicide^[1][2].

Statistics offices count the deaths, not the children; registers can find them

Suicide statistics record the person who died, not their family. In 2025, 6,162 suicide deaths were registered in England and Wales^[5]; the United States recorded 48,824 suicide deaths in 2024^[6]. Neither release says how many of those who died were parents of dependent children. WHO notes that only some 80 member states have good-quality death registration data for estimating suicide rates, so in much of the world even the starting count is uncertain^[3].

In England and Wales in 2025, the highest rates were among men aged 50 to 54 and women aged 45 to 49, ages at which many adults are raising children^[5]. That suggests many children are affected; it does not say how many.

Where population registers link parents to their children, researchers can identify them. The studies below use different years, ages and definitions, so their numbers should not be compared, added up or read as a trend.

In Greenland, the study reports, 60% of the population has had a family member or close friend die by suicide^[10]. For children bereaved of a parent from any cause, see how many children are bereaved.

Grief is shared with other bereaved children; some feelings weigh more

Children bereaved by suicide grieve much as other bereaved children do. In a longitudinal study by a US research team, 26 children aged 5 to 17 whose parent had died by suicide were compared with 332 children whose parent had died from other causes, at interviews from one to 25 months after the death. Grief emotions were common in both groups. The children bereaved by suicide were more likely to feel anxiety, anger and shame, while measures of depression, suicidality and day-to-day functioning "differed minimally between groups"^[11]. The sample was small, but the point matters: these are children in grief, not a separate kind of child.

A second US team followed 176 young people aged 7 to 25 whose parent had died suddenly (by suicide, accident or sudden natural causes) and 168 who had not been bereaved. At 21 months, young people whose parent had died by suicide had a higher incidence of depression than those bereaved by a sudden natural death, and higher rates of alcohol or substance misuse. The authors concluded that the best time to prevent or ease depression "may be shortly after the parent's death"^[12].

Postvention guidance describes the feelings children may have. The Support After Suicide Partnership, hosted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, lists among them guilt that "they weren't a good enough reason for the person to keep living", and fear that "they, and others they love, will die too"^[13]. These are understandable responses to a frightening event, not signs of illness.

Many families were already under strain

Some of the difference between these children and others was there before the death. In the first of those studies, children bereaved by suicide were more likely to have had behavioural problems before it^[11]. Norwegian registers show the same thing in primary care: among adolescents whose parent later died by suicide, 2.4% had a mental-health consultation with their GP in any given quarter two years before the death, and consultations rose in the quarters leading up to it, more steeply for girls than boys. In the year of the death the rate rose by 6 percentage points^[9]. A parent's suicide often follows a long period of difficulty for the whole family, one reason it cannot be treated as the single cause of what follows for a child.

Relative risks are raised, absolute risks are low, and there is no single cause

Register studies find higher relative risks of later suicidal behaviour among children bereaved by a parent's suicide. These need careful reading: a raised relative risk is not a prediction for any child, and in the one study below that reports absolute figures, the great majority did not have them.

The largest study followed 189,094 people whose parent died before they were 18, in registers from three Nordic countries between 1968 and 2008, each matched with ten people of the same sex and age whose parents had not died, for up to 40 years. Of the bereaved group, 0.14% died by suicide during follow-up, against 0.07% of the comparison group. That is about twice the rate, after allowing for family psychiatric history, socioeconomic status and other factors, but it means more than 99 in 100 people in both groups did not. The relative rate was 3.44 times as high where the parent had died by suicide and 1.76 times where the parent had died from other causes^[14].

Other registers point the same way. In Sweden, among offspring of parents who died by suicide, the suicide rate was 1.9 times that of offspring of living parents; for those who were children or adolescents at the time of the death it was about three times as high, while for those bereaved as young adults it was not significantly raised^[15]. In Taiwan, children whose parent died by suicide had 3.91 times the hazard of dying by suicide compared with matched children whose parents were alive, though the registers held no data on mental illness^[8]. In Greenland, the suicide of a mother before a child was 10 was linked with 3.4 times the later rate and the suicide of a father with 1.9 times, a borderline result^[10]. A 2019 systematic review of 26 studies of parental death from external causes, including suicide, found an association with later suicidal behaviour in all but one^[16].

Why these figures are not a forecast

WHO describes the reasons for suicide as "multi-faceted", shaped by social, cultural, biological, psychological and environmental factors across a lifetime^[3]. A Danish study of young people aged 10 to 21 who died by suicide between 1981 and 1997 found many factors in the background, from a parent's mental illness, low income or divorce to a parent's suicide or early death; the strongest was mental illness in the young people themselves^[17]. In the UK, a review of official reports on all 595 suicides by people aged 10 to 19 in 2014–2016 found that bereavement "added to existing adversities"; it had no comparison group, so it cannot show cause^[18].

Registers adjust for some of these factors but never all. Families share genes, homes and circumstances, and some of the raised risk will reflect those rather than the death itself. The risk is also not fixed. In Sweden, among young people whose parent died by suicide or in an accident, those bereaved in adolescence or young adulthood were at greatest risk of hospital treatment after a suicide attempt within one to two years of the death, after which the risk declined. The authors describe "critical windows" for monitoring and support^[19]. For outcomes among all bereaved children, see mental health after a parent dies.

Support is offered widely but has rarely been tested

A 2017 review of psychosocial interventions found only two studies aimed specifically at children or adolescents bereaved by suicide; both suggested some benefit but had methodological problems^[20]. A 2023 rapid review for Health and Care Research Wales, covering children and young people up to age 24, found three studies, all of group programmes lasting 10 to 14 weeks. It found "indications that group interventions may help to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms", while warning that the limited, low-quality evidence ruled out firm conclusions. The review is a preprint^[4].

Thin evidence is not evidence that support does not work; it means the work has rarely been funded to be measured. In a qualitative evaluation of Let's Talk Suicide, an online programme piloted in 2021, the 4 children, 7 parents and 3 facilitators interviewed were "very positive" about it. They said it helped to normalise children's experiences; the authors note longitudinal research is still needed^[21].

What young people and carers say helps

An Australian research team asked 18 adolescents bereaved by suicide what made help helpful. Four themes came through: feeling connected with a helper, feeling understood by them, having a sense of control over the help, and having access to it as needed. The authors conclude that help "must be accessible on a long-term basis while catering for flexible usage"^[22].

The adults caring for these children are bereaved too. In interviews with ten carers of children bereaved by suicide or homicide, a German research team found that carers often held back their own grief to stay functional and keep children's lives stable, at a cost of exhaustion and guilt. They called for services to "explicitly address carers' dual needs"^[23]. In a companion study, carers described wanting someone knowledgeable to guide them, contact with others "in the same boat" and support that is easy to reach^[24]. See also the wellbeing of surviving parents.

Postvention guidance, the support offered after a suicide, stresses honesty. The Support After Suicide Partnership's guidance states that "it is better for children to hear the truth from people who are close to them, and who can tell them in a safe, loving way", that telling them is a chance to reassure them they were not to blame, and that a different explanation given earlier can be revisited^[13].

What the evidence asks of us

The evidence does not say that children bereaved by suicide are destined for harm. It says they carry a heavier load than most bereaved children, that many families were under strain before the death, and that the time soon after it matters. That points to steps for services, funders and policymakers:

• Count the children. No national statistics office checked for this study reports how many children have a parent who dies by suicide^[5][6]. Register studies in Sweden, Norway, Taiwan and Greenland show that it can be done^{[7][9][8][10]}. See also the gaps in data on bereaved children.
• Offer support early, and keep it available. UK researchers concluded that lasting bereavement support "needs to be routinely and immediately available for young people"^[18]. US research suggests the best time to prevent depression may be shortly after the death^[12], and adolescents asked for help that stays open over the long term^[22].
• Support the adults around the child. Carers are grieving the same death and want knowledgeable guidance and peer contact^[24][23].
• Fund evaluation alongside services. The Welsh rapid review calls for every service to use validated outcome measures from the start^[4].
• Make support fit the community. Where suicide touches many families, as in Greenland, researchers call for "culturally relevant support"^[10].

There is reason for hope in all of this. WHO states that with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions, suicides can be prevented^[3], and its guidance on reporting notes that stories of people overcoming a suicidal crisis can lead to fewer suicides^[1]. Children bereaved by suicide are not on a fixed path. For what is known about support for bereaved children generally, see what helps bereaved children; for adults, see adults bereaved by suicide. The full library is at research on bereaved children.

Language: this piece uses plain words such as “died” rather than euphemisms, because they are clearer. It says “died by suicide”, gives no detail of how or where anyone died, and follows the Samaritans’ media guidelines and WHO’s guidance for reporting suicide. Where a study's own wording differs (for example “offspring” or “decedents”), we use plainer terms.

Why we're publishing this

Children whose parent dies by suicide are among the least visible bereaved children: uncounted in statistics and supported by adults who are grieving too. The organisations that work with them need evidence they can cite to make the case for early, lasting support. This study sets it out plainly, including where it is thin, so it can be used on these children's behalf.

How to read this data

Most of the strongest figures come from national population registers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other Nordic countries, Taiwan and Greenland, which link deaths to family records over decades. They adjust for some factors, such as parental psychiatric history and income, but not all, and they show associations, not causes. Relative figures differ in kind: incidence rate ratios (Nordic and Greenland studies) compare rates; the Taiwan figure is a hazard ratio; neither says how many children are affected. The Nordic absolute figures (0.14% and 0.07%) cover parental death from any cause, not suicide alone. The US clinical studies are small, recruited samples; the qualitative studies are not representative; the rapid review is a preprint. Suicide statistics count registered deaths, not children affected. No figure here predicts anything for an individual child.

Use this data

Free to cite with attribution to Understanding Bereavement. Charities, schools, services and journalists are welcome to reuse these figures and charts; when reporting on suicide, please follow recognised media guidelines. For the underlying figures as a spreadsheet, get in touch.

Important: This study summarises published research about groups of people for general information. It is not medical advice or bereavement support, and it cannot describe or predict anything about an individual child or family. If you are worried about a child or about yourself, please speak to a GP or another qualified professional, or contact one of the helplines listed near the top of this page.

Sources

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