COVID-19 is altering family dynamics in ways that threaten to put already vulnerable children at increased risk of abuse and neglect. This column describes the latest empirical evidence charting how a decline in childcare availability and employment can affect the treatment of children within families. Recommending that the immense costs of child maltreatment be considered in cost-benefit calculations of lockdown measures, the column also urges governments to work with social and health care providers to integrate children’s welfare in future risk reduction and preparedness.