Government austerity policies have “trapped” women in financially abusive relationships leaving them without money for food, emergencies or their children, trade unionists warned yesterday.

A joint report from the TUC and charity Women’s Aid predicts that the roll-out of universal credit could aggravate the situation as all family income would go to the head of the household.

Women’s Aid chief executive Polly Neat said: “Many women find it impossible to leave because they don’t have the money to escape, while others spend years trying to pay off debts, clear their credit scores after taking out loans and credit cards for their partner in their name and rebuild their lives.”

Over half of women suffering abuse told the TUC how their partner used them as a source of money.

The report also found that 77 per cent of those who survived financial abuse were now having to deal with the effect it had on their mental health.

Women’s Aid and the TUC have urged government to pay childcare elements of the universal credit to the main carer rather than as part of the household package.

The groups also demanded more training and support for unemployed and vulnerable women.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This report shines a light on the under-reported and often misunderstood problem of financial abuse.

“Women’s economic independence is crucial to their ability to escape abusive relationships.”

Ms O’Grady added that the report “spells out very clearly the steps that the government must take in order to ensure that universal credit does not serve to further trap women in abusive relationships and in poverty.”

Speaking at TUC Women’s Conference yesterday, Ms O’Grady also took the opportunity to condemn Prime Minister David Cameron for his insistence that “we are all in this together.”

She said: “Stop treating us like we were born yesterday.”