Members of the British Youth Council Youth Select Committee will be joined by key figures from organisations including Disability UK and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to hear evidence as part of their inquiry into the cost of living and its impact on young people’s health.
Almost half a million young people declared health and wellbeing their biggest concern in a UK-wide ballot of young people aged 11 to 18 last year, with further research over the summer concluding the cost of living crisis was a key driving factor.
Taking place on Friday 15 September in Portcullis House, the oral evidence session will enable the Committee to hear directly from those with a vested interest in the way transformative economic shifts have been impacting younger demographics.
Evidence gathered will build upon the mounting written evidence the Committee has been collecting since August, ultimately contributing towards the first full and comprehensive review into the rising cost-of-living’s impact on young people.
Dev Sharma, Chair of the Youth Select Committee from Hampshire, said: “We want to hear from a range of people with expertise on the cost of living and how it has been impacting young people’s health within their networks and communities.
“The cost of living crisis is affecting young people at all levels of society, and being able to listen to lots of different ideas is a valuable way for us to bring a representative list of recommendations to the government. The more ideas we hear, the better our work will be.”
The Committee will hear evidence from the government and young people during a second oral evidence session at a later stage.
Now in its twelfth year, the Youth Select Committee is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons. The twelve members of this year’s Youth Select Committee are aged 14-18 and include representatives from young people involved in various programmes and groups across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
2023’s oral evidence session will be open to the public. Recordings will be available at a later stage on Parliamentlive.tv. Written transcripts of the sessions will be available on the British Youth Council website.