Children ‘going hungry and having pocket money stolen due to economic abuse’

Children are suffering the impacts of economic abuse within families, including having their pocket or birthday money stolen or going without food, according to research for a charity.

Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), which commissioned the research, said it reveals “the hidden crisis harming children across the UK”.

Economic abuse can happen when someone’s money or economic resources such as their employment is controlled by their partner or ex-partner.

Abusive parents also use tactics that directly target their children’s economic security, SEA said.

The survey indicated that more than a quarter of mothers (27%) with children aged under 18 had experienced economic abuse over the past year.

The research indicated that over the past year 14% of mothers with children aged under 18 who experienced signs of economic abuse said their child experienced poor mental health as a result of the abuse.

One in six (17%) said they could not provide food, clothes or other essential items for their children.

A fifth (20%) said they felt afraid for their children’s safety or wellbeing because of their current or ex-partner’s economically abusive behaviour.

One in six (16%) victim-survivors with children under 18 said that a current or ex-partner stole money from their child, such as their birthday or pocket money.

The same proportion (16%) said that a current or ex-partner stopped, or tried to stop, them accessing benefit payments that they or their children were entitled to.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of SEA, said: “Economic abuse is a dangerous form of coercive control and children are being harmed by it every day.

“Our research shows that perpetrators are stealing children’s pocket money, stopping mums accessing child benefit, and refusing to pay child support.”

The charity quoted one woman saying her former partner “would stop maintenance payments right before Christmas”.

She said: “However much you might try to shield your kids, they know when the house is freezing, they know when they can’t go on school trips, they know that we’re one surprise bill away from a food bank.”

The woman’s son, who is now an adult, said: “Even though mum would do her best to protect us, she wasn’t able to hide the fact that the cupboards and fridge weren’t as full as they usually were.

“I think we all knew there wasn’t enough food to go around as mum would make excuses about not being hungry, or saying she had already eaten.

“I’ve deliberately left food on my plate, knowing that would be all that she ate that day.”

Ipsos UK surveyed more than 2,800 women and more than 2,200 men across the UK in October.

Banks and building societies can be sources of support for people dealing with economic abuse.

Kathryn Townsend, head of customer vulnerability at Nationwide Building Society, said: “This latest research commissioned by Surviving Economic Abuse is extremely worrying. It’s important that anyone affected by economic abuse knows where to go to get support.”

She said Nationwide provides resources on its website to help people understand the different types of abuse and offer safe ways to get support, adding: “Our frontline teams are fully trained to spot the signs of abuse and provide tailored help.

“We also offer safe spaces in over 400 of our branches for anyone who needs them.”

TSB offers a “flee fund” to help domestic abuse victims to pay for essentials.

On its website, TSB says that taking steps such as regularly clearing their online browsing history, keeping an eye on credit reports, changing Pins and passwords regularly, and making sure letters with important personal information are going to a safe address may help some people to regain control of their finances.