As parents feel financial pressure from inflation, children carrying the burden

Making ends meet is a lot harder than it was even six months ago.

Gas prices are soaring and groceries seem to have doubled in cost.

Parents are struggling. Close to two-thirds of families are living paycheck to paycheck.

Local advocates say they are seeing more children suffer some kind of trauma at home and fear parents are taking their stress out on their children.

But Linda Goldfield of Youth Haven in Collier County said they are not the only ones that are struggling.

“When families are under economic stress, it can result in increased violence in the home, increased conflict. And oftentimes the children suffer from that abuse. So the children that are coming to Youth Haven are suffering from more and more severe trauma,” Goldfield said.

Matthew Parkinson, with the Children’s Advocacy Center, fears a correlation between inflation and abuse.

“Anytime you have something like a housing crisis, or you know, the economy is kind of in peril, you do see some risk factors within these families,” Parkinson said.

Sometimes the violence is obvious. But now they’re seeing kids who are suffering all kinds of ways.

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