Help young people through the cost-of-living crisis

Sadly, the reality is that from April this year, the Bank of England predicts inflation to exceed seven per cent, alongside hikes in national insurance, council tax and soaring energy bills.

This increase will impact households across the UK, however, young people once again find themselves disproportionately affected by circumstances outside of their control.

Making up almost 30 per cent of the lower paid workforce – and despite a small increase across the board announced by the Chancellor last year – the discrepancy in wages for young people as of April 2022 remains. Under-18s and those in apprenticeship schemes will earn the minimum of between £4.30-£4.62 per hour compared with £8.36 for 21- to 22-year-olds, and £9.50 for those aged 23 and over, who will now receive the National Living Wage.

Additionally, 16- to 24-year-olds make up almost 800,000 of all those relying on universal credit, the temporary uplift for which was recently removed despite pleas from the sector. For young graduates earning more than £27,000, the burden of student debt deepens with the loan repayment threshold frozen for this year rather than rising in line with average income, meaning more people will be repaying at a time when money is increasingly tight.

Add to this the predicted rise in the Consumer Price Index to 5.5 per cent, and the economic stability of this generation and those that follow looks increasingly uncertain. For so many, the prospects of affordable housing, entering the property market or contributing to a private pension already seemed impossible, but this most recent blow threatens to cement that.

This is exactly why we cannot leave young people to suffer that blow alone. Instead, we must rise to the challenge of helping them to achieve their ambitions and lead independent and financially viable lives.

YMCAs offer welfare and debt advice so young people can manage their finances correctly, support them to engage in education and training to improve their job prospects and provide immediate help through food banks and homeless shelters.

However, emergency relief provided by organisations like YMCA can only go so far. No changes have been made to the universal credit rate to reflect the rising cost of living, and so a fair increase in payments is needed to help those most vulnerable. For those in employment, a pay rise in line with inflation should be a requirement, and apprentice salaries and younger-age minimum wages must be increased to make life more affordable for those carving out their career path.

We must help to equip and empower young people to make their dreams of fair pay, affordable housing and economic stability a reality, starting now.

• Denise Hatton, chief executive, YMCA England & Wales