Using peer research to campaign for change
Eurydice Belezika, Peer Research Coordinator and former Centrepoint resident in London, talks about her experience of conducting research and campaigning to support disadvantaged young people.
Eurydice Belezika, Peer Research Coordinator and former Centrepoint resident in London, talks about her experience of conducting research and campaigning to support disadvantaged young people.
Centrepoint has updated and published our Universal Credit guides for young people and those supporting them. They include information on the up-to-date benefit rates, rules, and regulations within Universal Credit. Our Policy and Research Assistant, Franki Taylor, talks you through it.
Amelia was just 16 when she became a mother and moved into our young parent’s service. She was supported with benefits, budgeting, education – vital tools in a cost-of-living crisis.
Our research looks at the key reasons why relationships breakdown and the kinds of pressures faced by families.
This research report explores the growing number of young people sleeping rough during the pandemic and evaluates the support that is available to them.
This report highlights the state of youth homelessness during and beyond the pandemic and is based on a survey of English councils, analysis of Centrepoint’s Helpline data, and interviews with local authority and Centrepoint staff.
As part of a Centrepoint research project looking at how homeless young people access the social security system, Oxera were commissioned to provide a backward-looking assessment of the impact that the social security system has had on young people under the age of 25 (under 25s) between 1988 and 2020. In light of this, Oxera also undertook a forward-looking cost–benefit analysis (CBA) to analyse the impact of six different policy recommendations provided by Centrepoint regarding the social security system in the UK.
The social security system is a vital lifeline for thousands of young people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage across the UK. However, this peer-led research project into the benefits system finds that in many areas, the system is falling short of providing the support and resources that young people need.
Despite widespread calls from Centrepoint and others in the sector to make the Universal Credit uplift permanent, the Government chose to withdraw the extra money in 2021, impacting millions of vulnerable households across the country.
Over the last decade, recorded levels of destitution and food insecurity have risen sharply across the UK. This research shows that some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in our society are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity.