The research, which involved a nationally representative survey conducted with Ipsos UK, found that one in three young women experience economic abuse overall. Rates are highest among disabled young women and those with caring responsibilities for children, with perpetrators exploiting additional vulnerabilities to exert control.
Specific tactics include abusers preventing partners from having login information for online banking, controlling digital wallets, and taking out credit in the victim's name without consent or because they were scared to refuse, including from “buy now, pay later” lenders. One in eight girls and young women had experienced a current or ex-partner preventing them from having login information, such as online banking passwords, while the same proportion said an abuser controlled their digital wallets. Seven per cent of respondents said an abuser had taken out credit in their name without consent or because they were scared to refuse.
More than 40% of those affected said the abuse caused them financial difficulty, while half reported a negative impact on their mental health, including anxiety, depression, panic attacks, self-harm or suicidal thoughts. More than a third said the economic abuse prevented them from leaving the relationship with the abuser, and one in six had to borrow money, including from digital lenders such as BNPL and online payday lenders, to cover essential items or bills.
The report features the testimony of a survivor, Becky, who said her ex-partner coerced her into more than £40,000 of debt and prevented her from working. "I had good credit at the time and he didn't," she said. "Even though I said no, he broke me down over many months and forced me to take out a loan in my name to pay for a holiday that he wanted to go on." She said he also obtained BNPL loans in her name with "no verification" and that when she left, the interest on the debt "was huge". She called for the government to ensure education about economic abuse in schools and colleges, and for banks to build in extra protections, "particularly with the rising use of AI".
Sam Smethers, the chief executive of Surviving Economic Abuse, said digital financial products could be "weapons of abuse". "To halve violence against women and girls, we must tackle abuse where it happens, including through the digital financial products young women use every day," she added. "We also want to see financial services firms working with survivors and experts to design out abuse of digital financial products and build in protections."
The minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, Satvir Kaur, said: "This report shines an important light on a type of abuse that too often goes unrecognised and can take many forms, from controlling someone's money, to their choices, to their future." She said the government was working with partners including the banking sector through its "Enough" campaign to help people recognise the signs of economic abuse and support victims.