Cost of Living resources – April 2023 Update
26 April 2023
At London Youth, we continue to capture young people’s voices on the cost-of-living crisis through convening our members and Youth Board. We have been providing platforms to amplify young people’s asks of London and national policy makers. Most recently, in March 2023, we were invited to contribute a panel of young people to present on their cost-of-living priorities at the APPG for London meeting. They spoke to the critical issues of housing, mental health and transport, and what they need of policy makers. You can read more about this here.
We prepared a selection of some of the hubs, resources and networks that may be helpful for London’s youth sector in seeking further information and support. We will update this on a quarterly basis.
NYA – Youth Worker Toolkit
In February 2023, a new practical resource was published by the National Youth Agency to assist youth workers and allied professionals in helping young people understand the cost of living crisis, develop essential money management skills, and build emotional resilience and ways to manage their health and wellbeing.
Independent social change organisation the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in December’s ‘Going under and without’ 22/23 winter tracker, found that 92% of younger adults (aged 18-24) go without essentials, up from 76% six months ago.
The new resource is particularly aimed at those aged 13-19, or up to 25 with additional needs. It provides 12 practical group sessions to help young people better understand how the cost of living crisis has occurred and open up difficult discussions about how it is affecting their life in a safe and non-judgemental space.
Click here to access the NYA – Youth Worker Toolkit
Networks
London Youth Networks convene members regularly around key issues affecting their work with young people. We engage members on cost of living pressures and wider policy issues in our Policy Advisory Group. We also co-chair the Young Londoners Coalition with Partnership for Young London, which seeks to amplify the voice of youth infrastructure providers across the capital.
Other networks holding webinars on cost of living issues recently include:
- 4in10, London’s Child Poverty Network – a campaigning network of 400 London organisations – coordinate and host a range of events on relevant issues, explore these here
- The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition also held a webinar exploring the cost of living crisis
- Citizens Advice are running monthly sessions on the cost of living crisis. Take a look and sign up to their next briefing here
Cost of Living Hubs
There is a number of cost of living hubs provided by a number of civil society organisations and public authorities. They provide comprehensive advice on some of the key issues currently facing the sector.
NCVO
https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/#/
Mayor of London
https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/communities-and-social-justice/help-cost-living
The Mayor of London introduced a key cost of living initiative in February – free schools meals for all primary school children in London. You can see detail of this here. This has been a catalyst for a few individual London Councils to introduce free school meals on a permanent basis, an example of which you can see here.
The Mayor also held a session with Martin Lewis, the money-saving expert which you can view here.
Local Government Association
https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/safer-and-more-sustainable-communities/cost-living-hub
London Councils resources
https://beta.londoncouncils.gov.uk/news/2022/boroughs-step-cost-living-worries-reach-new-heights
Citizens Advice
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/get-help-with-the-cost-of-living/
London Funders
YMCA
https://www.ymca.org.uk/about/what-we-do/support-advice
https://ymca.e-activist.com/page/113539/petition/1
London Plus
https://londonplus.org/news/support-for-the-cost-of-living-crisis-london
Cost of living campaign to support students
https://www.nus.org.uk/nus_sets_out_cost_of_living_policy_proposals_to_support_students
Guidance on Household Support Funds – which vary between London Councils (examples below).
https://www.barnet.gov.uk/adult-social-care/money-and-legal-matters/household-support-fund-adults
BBC Children in Need
https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/changing-lives/our-latest-on-the-cost-of-living-crisis/
House of Commons briefing and links to resources
A full briefing can be found here.
If you’re hosting an event or sharing resources that our members should know about and we could share include in our future updates, please contact lee.ritchie@londonyouth.org or clare.macnamara@londonyouth.org
