Adding new children to the family or a parent losing a job could affect everybody’s standard of living and daily schedule. If a child in the family gets hurt, that can also easily have a profound impact on the entire family. Injuries to any family member can lead to expenses and unique challenges, but a major injury to someone still young enough to depend on their parents for care can be of particular cause for concern.
There are many reasons that a child’s injury can be more of a hardship for a family than an injury to an adult may be. Why are injuries to younger family members often more difficult to manage?
1. Their care is more expensive
Pediatric specialists often charge far more for their services because they require more education and often higher amounts of insurance coverage given the risk involved. Not only is the price tag attached to care for younger people often higher, but they may require more care overall, as growing bodies may necessitate revision procedures as someone continues to mature after their initial injury.
2. The trauma for the parents can prove severe
It can be an emotionally devastating experience to witness a child suffer a severe injury or to be unable to improve their quality of life after they get hurt. Many parents will struggle with post-traumatic stress when a child suffers a severe injury and will have a hard time adjusting to their family circumstances. They and the rest of the family may require counseling, and their emotional trauma may spill out in unfortunate ways that affect them personally or professionally.
3. Parents often have to serve as caregivers
It is common for children to require constant support after a major traumatic injury, and families often worry that hiring a professional would be both very expensive and a source of abuse risk for the child. Some families may want to provide care themselves, but that will frequently mean that one parent needs to leave the workforce or at least adjust to part-time employment.
In extreme cases, an injury to a child might forever limit their earning potential and make their care needs a permanent expense for their family to absorb. Recognizing the numerous ways in which specific types of personal injuries generate expenses can help families secure an appropriate amount of rightful compensation with the assistance of an experienced legal professional.