Rising food and fuel bills have hit some families so hard that they have slashed their children’s pocket money in order to make ends meet. That is the grim conclusion of a survey commissioned by AXA.

Some 2.2 million parents (17%) have reduced the amount of cash they hand out, or have even stopped their allowance altogether in the past six months. The school holidays could be a dismal time for the hardest-hit.

Credit is also drying up for some adolescents. One in ten parents of 16-18 year olds say they have stopped lending money to their children altogether. However, it is 11-15 year-olds who are most likely to have their requests for credit turned down - one in six (17%) parents say they have cut the amount of cash available for purchases over  and above their normal allowance.

But, according to AXA, it is 17 year-olds who could face the leanest of summers. Many of them have grown accustomed to receiving generous handouts from parents: one in 20 17 year-olds typically receives between £100 and £200 a month from their parents, and AXA predicts that those approaching university or their first job are therefore most likely to miss their regular allowance if it is withdrawn by cash-strapped parents.

Alison Green of AXA said: "The Bank of Mum and Dad has so far been quiet on the issue of how it will deal with the effects of the credit crunch. But now it has come out and shown teenagers have been hit hard.

"Over half of the teenagers we polled said their parents give them money if they run out, and one in five knows they will get what they want if they are persistent enough. So there are plenty of young people who have got used to getting what they want, when they want it.

"But all that may change as parents find their finances stretched to breaking point for the first time in years. Parents are getting tough and kids are not going to like it."

Another piece of research, for Chelsea Building Society, found that using savings to pay current bills is becoming a regular feature of life in Britain today.

A number of families have cashed in savings to pay utility or council tax bills. A survey of 1,050 UK residents found that 14% of them had used savings to pay for food and 12% had eaten into savings to settle their monthly mortgage or rental payments in the last three months.
 
More than seven in ten of those asked expected to spend more on food, gas and electricity, and petrol in the next three months, and would consequently have less to spend on such non-essentials as presents, holidays, home improvements and furnishing.
 

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