CHILDREN IN UK ‘AT RISK OF EXPLOITATION’ THIS SUMMER DUE TO COST OF LIVING CRISIS

Sun 04 June 2023:

As a result of the cost of living crisis, which prevents the majority of families from being able to afford holiday activities, a record number of youngsters are at risk of being sexually and criminally exploited this summer, The Guardian reported.

Six in ten parents will find it difficult to finance clubs, time off work, or family activities over the six-week school vacation, according to a poll conducted by Barnardo’s, the largest children’s charity in the UK.

There are more than 5 million children aged 11-17 in England and Wales, and experts believe significant numbers are now at “greater risk” of exploitation and will lack adult supervision either online or in the outside world.

One frontline worker for Barnardo’s said the cost of living crisis was continuing to push families into poverty and made children increasingly vulnerable to criminal gangs.

“At the moment, the easiest way for the [young people I support] to get extra money to have a bit of food, hot water, put the electric on, is doing drug dealing,” they said.

One teenager revealed how lack of parental oversight or guardians he could trust meant that as a child he grew up in a “trap house”, a property from where drug dealers operate.

Preston (not his real name) said: “‘Trap’ is exactly the right word for it because that’s the reality – you’re trapped into a never-ending cycle.”

Now 19, he added: “When people say this lifestyle can be horrific, it really is. You end up trusting no one and never feel truly safe.”

A new survey of 1,191 parents and 729 children aged between 11 and 17 found one in 10 were worried about encountering criminal gangs in their area over the holiday period. And the same proportion said they were concerned about not having anywhere safe to go in their neighbourhood this summer.

Jess Edwards, the charity’s senior policy adviser for childhood harms, said youngsters often did not recognise when they were being exploited. “A seemingly simple offer of gifts, food or drink at a time of need can quickly be leveraged by criminals into a cycle of debt or exploitation.”

Edwards urged families to look out for unexplained injuries, emotional and behavioural changes, or children suddenly having money or expensive items they had inexplicably acquired.

Barnardo’s is calling for urgent government intervention on the issue, with investment in services to ensure no child is left without specialist support after being exploited.

Devastating cuts to youth services have also played a part, with free or affordable activities increasingly rare. Since 2010, 760 youth centres have closed, and real-terms expenditure by councils on youth services has fallen by more than 70%. In some areas, such funding has been obliterated entirely, with seven councils admitting that no money had been allocated to youth services in 2020–21.

According to the survey, more than half of the kids reportedly expressed worry about being idle and unoccupied over the summer vacation.

Even when there are childcare and holiday club nearby, a quarter of families claimed they could not afford them, and a fifth said they would be unable to take time off of work to be with their kids.

Child protection experts also emphasise that the threat of exploitation can originate online, with seven in 10 youngsters saying they expected to spend more time on their computer during the holiday.

The finding that around one in ten kids expected to meet up with someone they had first met online this summer is another cause for concern.