Cost of living: 'It upsets me that I rely on a food bank to eat'

Since September, 20-year-old Elijah Heyns has seen his bills triple, forcing him to live off £15 a week.

Despite studying Level 3 Engineering at college in Southend in Essex full time whilst living independently, Elijah's age means his grant excludes free college meals.

This has left Elijah increasingly dependent on food banks to feed himself.

Per month, Elijah spends £80 on electricity, £125 on rent and phone bills and £100 on travel to college. This leaves him with £15 per week to feed himself. This doesn't even cover three lunches at his college.

Elijah says: "Even though I do not drink, I do not smoke, and I do not take drugs, it upsets me that I still must rely on a food bank to eat every day."

Second hand clothes from charity shops have even become too expensive.

Elijah says it is not something he speaks about with his friends."People I go to college with don't know about it," he says.

"I used to feel a lot of shame using food banks, I thought I was taking from homeless people."

With food prices currently the highest they've been in 40 years, many students and apprentices are finding it increasingly difficult to buy food.

The National Union of Students carried out a survey in June, showing that the number of students and apprentices using food banks had increased by 5% in a matter of months.

Kashmea Wahi, Youth MP for Harrow, told the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Youth Affairs that the cost-of-living crisis is "undoubtedly the most pertinent issue for our youth".

The 18-year-old said: "Our overreliance on charities highlights a huge structural flaw in the system. There are currently more food banks than McDonald's in the UK, almost at a 2:1 ratio."

Kashmea urged MPs to remedy young people's dependency on charities by revaluating the criteria for free school and college meals.

YMCA, a youth organisation that supports vulnerable young people, said that young people's use of foods banks has not only increased, but become normalised.

A report on the cost of living and its impact on young people by YMCA said that young people who are on benefits are skipping meals, turning to food banks and making more unhealthy choices because of the lack of money they have.

"Financial resilience amongst young people on benefits is low and many of them are already in high levels of debt," it said.

In one year, YMCAs have referred between 4,400 and 5,200 young people to food banks for support.

However, research from the charity Centrepoint has suggested the shame and stigma of not being able to afford food and the lack of awareness as to how to access food banks, means that young people are more likely to rely on their support network or simply go hungry when in financial hardship.

Elijah says he would like to see the government consider paying the £900 cost of living payments, announced in the Autumn Statement, through monthly instalments to help with budgeting.

He would also like to see government make the minimum wage for over 18s living independently or in supported housing, the same as that for over 25s.

Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle also attended the discussion for young people in Parliament, and said "the work of food banks to stop people starving is fantastic but the fact they exist is a horror."

He told the BBC that "relying on others to chose what people eat, strips them of their dignity" and that "the solution to restore dignity is by restoring purchasing power".

"Shame should be on the government not the individual," Mr Russell-Moyle said. "There is a lack of political will to make people live well."

A spokesperson from the Department of Work and Pensions said: "While we know the priority for younger workers in those first years is to secure work and gain experience, we are nevertheless determined to ensure it pays properly."

In April 2023, the National Minimum Wages rates will increase to £7.49 for those aged 18-20 and £5.28 for those under 18.

The spokesperson added: "Our priority will always be to support the most vulnerable and we recognise that people are struggling with rising prices."