Children carry cost of living burden as half plan to move away

The UK should be braced for a new wave of migration that could leave towns and villages empty of ambitious young adults, a new study has warned, as barriers to fair opportunities and fears over the cost of living push them to seek a new life elsewhere.

So concerned are children and young adults about their prospects, that talent pools in all but the biggest hubs are set to reduce by almost half as they seek secure incomes and career growth.

Rae Daly, aged 14, a year 10 student, says: “I know, if I were to stay in my hometown, that my future career would be a lot more difficult to achieve as there’s a lack of opportunities for me. I’m about to start my exams and already I’m having to think beyond them and where I’ll need to move to in a few years’ time – adding even more worry.”

The research, by Co-op shows that children as young as 10 are both acutely aware of and deeply concerned about financial pressures, and that a third of school and university leavers now cite rising costs as a major barrier to them getting a job.

The figures are echoed in a separate study that suggests the cost of living crisis is saturating the concerns of secondary school aged children in particular.

More than 60 per cent of 11 to 18-year-olds now worries about their parents or guardians not have enough money, Yorkshire Building Society estimates. More than three-quarters say they have talked about the need to cut back to save money, including a quarter that say the cuts include essential items like fuel and food.

The building society estimates that the cost of living crisis means the average UK household will be £100 short every month by 2024 as expenditure outstripping incomes.

Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at children’s charity Action for Children, said: “The families on the lowest incomes will be hardest hit by the current cost of living crisis and more must be done to protect children and young people from its pain and misery, helping them to have safe and happy childhoods.”

Yorkshire Building Society has joined other prominent financial services names in appealing to the government to finally introduce the same level of financial education for children in England that their peers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales already receive – by adding the subject to the national curriculum from primary age.

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“As it is ultimately in everyone’s interests to improve the financial resilience of households across the UK, policymakers could and should do more to support households that are struggling to save money, to enable those households to build up financial resilience, to help protect them against the rising cost of living and unexpected financial shocks,” says Stephen White, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society.

“Policy changes that might be made include extending existing schemes such as Help to Save to provide additional support to a wider range of households, rather than only those that qualify for support from benefits and introducing financial education earlier into the national curriculum in England.”

But a generation’s financial fear runs deeper than can be solved by an extra class in school.

The Co-op figures also show that a third of 13 to 25-year-olds now believe the rising price of everyday things will negatively impact their long-term mental health, rising to almost half 21 to 25-year-olds – often first or second jobbers struggling to establish themselves in a conflicted jobs market and rollercoaster economy.

And, despite the government’s defining mission to “level up the UK”, by giving everyone the opportunity to “stay local but go far”, only a third of young people believe that what the government does will have a positive impact on their life.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, interim CEO of Co-op, said: “With young people, bearing the brunt of yet another national crisis, now more than ever, we need to take urgent action to tackle inequality of opportunity, levelling up for young people everywhere and to look from a business community as to how we can support.

“Young people are the DNA and future of this country, aspiring to so much but … while talent is spread across every community, opportunity is not. Too many feel that, owing to accessibility of opportunities and the rising cost of living they won’t have the chance to achieve their aspirations.”

“The government needs to give more focus to young people my age and provide better opportunities to help us with our future,” warns Daly.