Nearly a third (31%) of young people aged 16-25 have cut back on food so they can afford other essentials in the last three months, research by anti-poverty charity Trussell shows.
One in six (18%) young people have skipped meals to afford travel to work or education in the last three months, rising to 32% among those who grew up in hardship. One in seven (14%) have gone without toiletries such as toothpaste, shampoo or sanitary products in the past three months to afford food or utilities, more than doubling to one in three (33%) among those who experienced hardship growing up.
Food bank parcels surge
Newly released figures from food banks in the Trussell community show more than 240,000 food parcels were provided to 17 to 24-year-olds last year, up 53% from 157,000 in 2019. The study surveyed 4,741 people aged 16 to 25 in the UK in June via Savanta on behalf of Trussell.
The research also found financial hardship is delaying major life milestones. Almost half (47%) of young people have delayed moving out of their parents' home due to financial pressures, rising to 54% for those who experienced hardship growing up. Nearly half (47%) said financial pressures delayed learning to drive, rising to 61% for those who grew up in financial hardship. More than half (55%) said financial pressures delayed buying a home, rising to seven in ten (70%) for those who experienced hardship growing up.
Locked out of opportunities
Trussell's research highlights how financial hardship is locking young people out of opportunities. Those who experienced hardship growing up are almost twice as likely to be not in education, employment or training (NEET) as those who didn't (27% compared with 15%).
Some 43% of young people looking for work think they will need to move elsewhere to find employment, but only a third who would need to move (34%) think they can afford to do so. More than half (55%) of young people who experienced financial hardship said it negatively impacted their likelihood of going to university or other higher education or training, compared to 30% for those who did not grow up in hardship.
Andy Burnham has vowed to tackle the NEETs crisis, amid around one million young people aged 16 to 24 classified as NEET. Trussell is calling for better employment support and training opportunities, protection of social security for under-25s, and improved housing support.
Tom Weekes, head of research at Trussell, said: “Young adulthood should be about building independence and laying foundations for the future - not wondering how you’re going to put food on the table. But as young people grapple with a lack of job opportunities, sky-high rents and gaps in support, this has become the reality for far too many young people today. It's clear that a lack of investment in young people is having dire consequences. We need the UK government to act, and quickly, or risk seeing a generation of young people being forced to food banks.”
Government response
Helen Barnard, director of policy and research at Trussell, said: “Major milestones that previous generations often took for granted - like moving out of home or learning to drive - have become luxuries that are increasingly out of reach. At the same time, young people are being locked out of work, as they face limited job opportunities and cannot afford to move elsewhere to find work. Without better support, we risk a generation of young people being weighed down by financial hardship and at risk of turning to a food bank. The new Prime Minister has pledged to 'bring back hope'. Hope starts with security and opportunity.”
A Government spokesman said: "We're determined to turn the tide on poverty, and our recent statistics show that effort is making a difference, with household incomes up 5% in real terms. To ease cost-of-living pressures we have brought forward a wide range of measures including raising the National Minimum Wage and suspending tariffs on everyday staples, leading to lower prices at the till. We’re also helping young people to build a secure future through work by investing £2.5 billion in youth employment unlocking up to 500,000 jobs and training opportunities, and further reform will follow Alan Milburn’s review."
Savanta surveyed 4,741 UK people aged 16-25 for Trussell between 15 and 30 June. Someone is defined as experiencing hardship growing up if they sometimes or frequently did not have enough money to cover their essential needs, Trussell said.
A 23-year-old, Sharne, who studied politics in Manchester, spoke of feeling “shame” when she was forced to turn to a food bank during her second year of university. Her university student financial services recommended she use the service after she broke down in tears about her money worries. She told The Mirror: “I basically just went to them in tears, like: ‘Oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? I'm really struggling and this is really distressing.' And they set that up for me. But I never saw that happening to me and it was really overwhelming to think that I've got to go and do this because nobody imagines themselves in that position in their life and I certainly didn't as a student.”
Sharne, who will start a masters course in Scotland next week, added: “There's a lot of shame and embarrassment and it makes you feel quite small to have to turn to that. You don't expect it to happen to you but it's just the reality of the situation.” She said people forget there are so many other essentials to buy too and that she focuses on getting the cheapest of everything to make her money stretch as far as possible. Sharne explained: “Like the cheapest bread, the cheapest milk, the cheapest of all the things that you need. And then also things that you need just to live like personal hygiene, cleaning products, period products. They can't be avoided and they're not cheap.”
She added that she feels like young people’s hard work - such as balancing multiple jobs while studying - “doesn’t pay off for us”. Sharne said: “There isn’t any fairness. Older people probably look at us and just think we don't want to work and we're not interested and we don't put the effort in. It's just not true. Young people are working so hard in so many different avenues, whether that’s going out to paid work, balancing multiple jobs, studying alongside, trying to give themselves a better life, and it just feels like we put all this effort in and all this work, and it doesn't pay off for us.”
