Join us as we demand progressive policies to create a better future

This week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that young people are no longer able to rely on hard work to improve their living standards as they age. The Prince’s Trust recently found that almost two thirds of young people fear for their generation’s future. Almost one in three children are living in poverty. The list goes on.

These are crisis times for everyone, but especially younger generations. With the energy crisis, the rising cost of living, the lack of affordable housing and the climate crisis, it feels like we are constantly spiralling from one disaster to the next. For many young people, it is hard to remember a time when politics felt stable. The future for young people looks bleak.

When we look at those currently in charge, it is hard to see who is actually representing us. In 2019, thousands of students and children went on strike to urge our government to take action on climate change and countless studies show that the majority of young people are deeply concerned about it. Yet, just last week, Rishi Sunak was refusing to attend COP27.

Whilst the constant crises and lack of political representation can leave us feeling overwhelmed and powerless, there is still reason to feel hopeful. #BigFutures, a new campaign from The Big Issue, is one of them. We are calling for the new government, and future governments, to break the cycle of poverty for good and protect young people and future generations.

We are demanding a series of long and short-term policies to achieve decent, affordable homes for all, the end of the low-wage economy and the creation of a greener, sustainable future. Acting on housing, climate change and the cost-of-living crisis – three of the biggest issues that young people face today in the UK – would take us a step closer to securing a brighter future that genuinely works for us all.

We know that access to decent and affordable housing is one of the key obstacles to young people achieving the same financial security as their parents. We will be campaigning to ensure the implementation of the renters reform bill. We also demand that the government taxes second homes, retrofits homes across the UK and reforms legislation to require unused buildings to be used for housing. We believe that housing should be enshrined in law as a human right, which is why we will be backing a UK-wide ‘housing first’ policy.

Young people today are the first generation since the war who have seen a slower growth in their income in comparison to their parents. We will be demanding a fast pathway to £15ph minimum wage for all workers over the age of 18. We also call on the government to implement a ‘future skills’ scheme – upskilling and reskilling young people and members of the UK’s workforce who are in jobs that are vulnerable to disruption by crises and automation.

We will also be calling for green solutions to poverty. We are backing a green new deal to create at least one million well-paid jobs in green infrastructure and the care economy. We will campaign for a just transition, supporting a net-zero and climate resilient economy in a way that delivers fairness and tackles inequality and injustice.

The Big Futures campaign is just one of the many campaigns amongst many, many organisations, charities, businesses, trade unions, coalitions and MPs calling for progressive policies to create a better future. Civil society is mobilising en masse and the aim of our campaign is to help amplify calls from our sector and continue to build this movement.

For younger generations reading this, the future may feel bleak now. But we truly believe that if we work together, we can secure the future we deserve. Across the world, governments with progressive policies on housing, the climate and inequality are being voted in. Big Futures is here to make sure that happens here at home. Join the movement – sign our open letter and demand a better future.