A review of the impact of the crisis on young people, aged up to 25, in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, by support services Leicestershire Cares, reveals that that participants are skipping meals and struggling to afford bills while dealing with “increased stress about their finances and significant worry about further increases in energy and food prices”.
Young parents are particularly vulnerable, the report states, with many saying that they are unable to provide basics such as clothes and baby wipes for their children.
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Young parents also told Leicestershire Cares that they are regularly “considering at what point they should skip meals to ensure their children could eat three meals a day”.
The crisis, which is expected to get worse throughout the winter, has left some young people seeing energy bills increase three-fold, meaning they are “not turning on lights, avoiding cooking with gas where possible, batch cooking, and staying with friends and family to share resources”.
These pressures are having a “considerable impact” on their physical and mental health due to increased financial stress and being unable to afford healthier foods and things like gym memberships, according to the review.
One young person told Leicestershire Cares: “Everything is getting more expensive. Food costs are enough that I feel guilty eating… water, council tax, rent, gas, electric all seem to be increasing. If bills keep going up I won't have any money left to keep up.”
Another added: “Eventually I’m not going to be able to eat every day to make sure my children can eat three meals a day.”
The research also found that despite the impact of rising prices on young people, most have received no help or support.
Universal credit claimants, who contributed to the research, said that while the £650 cost-of-living payment paid via two lump sums in July had been “helpful”, they had not been able to save it to mitigate the impact of the crisis.
Participants said they would have preferred to see the reintroduction of a £20 universal credit uplift, which was temporarily introduced during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Others called for greater advice on saving, budgeting and what to do if you cannot afford a bill, as well as support with the stress caused by rising living costs.
Charlotte Robey-Turner, head of children and young people at Leicestershire Cares, said: “While we welcome the government capping energy prices at £2,500 a year for the next two years, realistically this cap will make little difference to our young people, as a bill of over £200 a month would still be a huge struggle for our participants to pay.
“If further, more meaningful support is not put in place quickly, young people will be at risk of turning to other means to support themselves and their families. Many of our young people are estranged from family, have few support networks, and are extremely vulnerable to being groomed by local gangs and county lines operatives.
“We hope this report demonstrates the need for immediate and wide-reaching action to support young people in or at the edge of poverty to overcome the adverse impacts that rising living costs are having on their current and future lives.”
