Almost 4 million children in UK affected by economic abuse, charity finds | Children

Nearly 4 million children in the UK suffer from the impact of economic abuse in their families, a charity has found; Some people have their pocket money or birthday money stolen by the perpetrators.

Data from the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) showed that in the past year, 27% of mothers with children under 18 had experienced behavior considered economic abuse, where a current or former partner controlled the family’s money.

The investigation found that perpetrators used a variety of methods, including denying mothers access to bank accounts and child benefits and refusing to pay child support.

As a result, some children are deprived of basic needs such as clothing and food.

A third of women who experienced economic abuse from their ex-partner reported that their ex-partner refused to pay alimony or paid it unreliably even though they could afford it.

One in six people said their current or former partner had stolen money from their children, such as birthdays or pocket money, and the same number said they had stopped or tried to prevent them from accessing benefits they were entitled to.

One mother, whose children are now adults, said: “My ex was going to stop his child support payments just before Christmas,” the charity quoted him as saying.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the SEA, said: “Economic exploitation is a dangerous form of coercive control and children suffer from it every day.”

“Our investigation shows that perpetrators steal children’s allowances, deny mothers access to child benefit and refuse to pay child support.

“We urgently need the government to publish its long-awaited Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and prioritize tackling economic exploitation. It needs to close the loopholes that allow abusers to manipulate systems such as child support to destroy lives.”

The SEA said mothers were three times more likely to be victims of economic abuse than childless women; but this is the first time the charity has commissioned a formal study into its impact on young people.

Smethers said: “When thinking about child abuse…people often think of physical harm and threat. But there are other forms of coercive control and we need to shed light on that because that’s how you understand abuse.”

Jess Phillips, the government minister responsible for protection and violence against women and girls, said: “Tackling economic exploitation will be integral to achieving our ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, and we will continue to ensure that children and young people are at the heart of this ambition.”