Fordham GSS Associate Professor Gregory Acevedo, Ph.D., has collaborated with young people in the UK to study how the cost-of-living crisis is reshaping access to emotional support. Conducted in Tower Hamlets, London, the research uses a youth participatory action research (YPAR) approach, empowering youth to play an active role in the project.
The study, titled “Cost-of-living: the impact on emotional support for young Londoners” and published in the Journal of Public Mental Health, engaged 12 peer researchers, aged 16–22, who led 14 focus groups with 44 residents over six months. Their work revealed significant challenges, including obstacles to receiving support from parents and carers, the value of diverse support networks, and the effects of financial hardships on youth well-being.
Although the study has limitations, such as sample size and composition, the findings provide valuable insights. They point to the need for policies and services that respond to the experiences of young people facing economic pressures.
The research also holds social significance, offering strategies to help families and communities provide more effective emotional support and prioritize marginalized youth’s voices.
As one of the first studies to explore this issue using a YPAR approach, it underscores the importance of engaging young people directly in research that shapes future policies.
Acevedo is also one of the faculty members who teaches in GSS’s Summer London Program, where MSW students can take up to six credits in just a few weeks over the summer. Learn more about it here.
