Record teenage violence against parents highlights family breakdown in England.
Data released by London’s Metropolitan Police shows that the number of recorded violent crimes in which teenagers attacked their father, mother, or stepfather has risen from around 1,886 in 2015 to more than 3,090 in the first 10 months of 2025.
The figures, recorded by the UK’s largest police force (the Metropolitan), relate to cases in which the suspect is aged between 10 and 17 and is recorded as the victim’s child or stepchild. Experts in the UK say that this type of violence often remains hidden and under-reported due to fear of social judgment, so the recorded figures are likely to reflect only a small part of the reality.
Studies have shown that the number of children’s violence against parents has been increasing steadily in the second half of the last decade and has seen a significant jump during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, as widespread COVID-19 restrictions were imposed, the number of registered cases reached more than 2,400, and the upward trend continued thereafter, with the number of registered cases exceeding 3,000 in 2023 and 2024, and remaining at the same high level in 2025.
Meanwhile, institutions active in the field of child violence against parents report a significant increase in family referrals. Officials of these institutions say that part of the growth in statistics is due to parents’ greater awareness and a decrease in fear of reporting this type of violence, but at the same time, social and economic pressures have also intensified tensions within the family.
According to social activists, child poverty, livelihood pressures, and the gap between the expectations of the teenage generation and the families’ actual ability to respond to these demands have created the basis for serious conflicts in some families. They say that many parents only think about getting help when the violence has passed the warning stage and has led to serious physical or psychological harm.
Social service experts in England also point to the role of weakening support services in recent years, saying that reduced access to adolescent mental health services and the limitation of child and family support programs in the light of government austerity policies have reduced the possibility of early intervention and left some families without effective support in the face of the crisis.
The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic also continue to be prominent in the analyses. School closures, disruption of daily life structures, home education, and the disconnection of children and adolescents from support networks outside the family have, in some cases, led to increased psychological stress and intensified conflicts in the home environment.
Along with these factors, the cost-of-living crisis in England is considered a determining variable. Rising prices, job insecurity, and ongoing pressure on household budgets are taking a toll on the mental health of parents and children, and experts say that as external pressures intensify, relationships within families become more fragile.
Taken together, police data and analysis of social institutions suggest that the crisis of violence against parents by teenagers in the UK is not simply an individual or family issue, but has deep roots in overlapping social and economic challenges.
Experts warn that this worrying trend could continue as long as financial pressures, poverty and weak social supports persist, as one sign of the gradual breakdown of security within British families.