The elderly and disabled aren’t the only targets of financial abuse.
As it turn out, a significant portion of millennials, the generation of people age 18 to 35, report being financially victimized by a spouse or partner, according to an analysis by New York-based financial wellness website CentSai.
Almost one-third of millennials surveyed, 30 percent, claim to have fallen victim to financial abuse and "financial infidelity," according to the study, which was released on Wednesday.
CentSai defines financial abuse as tactics used by a romantic or life partner to gain control in a relationship, by doing things such as limiting access to assets or family financial information. Financial infidelity, on the other hand, occurs when one member of a couple with combined finances lies to the other about money.
Men were more likely to be both perpetrators and victims. More than half of the self-reported victims, 53 percent, were men, while 63 percent of the perpetrators were men.
Almost two-thirds of the respondents, 64 percent, said that banks and financial institutions aren’t doing enough to protect and assist victims.
Social services aren’t supporting the group either; just 13 percent of the respondents thought that social services did enough for victims of financial abuse.
Among the millennial victims, fewer than half, 48 percent, said the perpetrators faced any consequences for their actions. Only three percent said the perpetrators faced legal action.
Nineteen percent of the victims said their relationships ended as a result of their partners' financial behavior.
CentSai analyzed 2,064 voluntary responses from people aged 18 to 35 as part of the survey.