Cooking the Books podcast: How money can be used to abuse

Money can be a source of power and control in a relationship. Photo / file

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what needs to change to reduce financial abuse. Hosted by Frances Cook.

They say money is power, and it's true. That's exactly why we spend so much time on this podcast talking about financial independence, and how to achieve it.

But what if someone wants to take that independence from you, so that they can have the power over you instead?

Financial abuse is a real problem. It can take many different forms, but the most basic idea is that someone is using money to control another person, maybe even terrorise them.

Now researchers say we should be fighting back.

For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to AUT's Dr Ayesha Scott.

We discussed what financial abuse can look like, and what needs to change at both the individual and society level.

For the interview, watch the video above or play the podcast audio here.

If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on iHeartRadio, Apple podcasts app, or Spotify, to make sure you never miss an episode.