CYP Now - Young people in supported housing 'choosing between heating and food'

The cost-of-living crisis is causing "extreme financial strain" for young people living in supported housing, and the lack of government support risks their health, wellbeing, and future prospects, YMCA England and Wales’s new report warns.

Girls are more likely than boys to have changed their plans, based on lost-learning during the pandemic. Picture: Adobe Stock

The report, Inside the cost-of-living crisis, is based on the views of young people living in supported housing.

It finds that they are growing more reliant on food banks and donations as financial strain increases, and will be forced to choose between eating meals or heating their homes this winter.

One 22-year old YMCA resident from Basingstoke said: “I had the choice, pay most of my bills or use it for food. It went on bills because that was my priority. Paying my bills I’m in less debt, again I went without food.”

Another resident, a young mother aged 20, added: “I’ve had to cut back on the amount of fruit we’re eating, one orange between [my children] instead of one orange each because of the price of everything just to stretch things a little bit further.”

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