Me & Money Programme – a resounding success in effectively tackling youth financial worries as demand soars by 400%

 

Through co-production, we developed the programme to address the financial concerns of young people in their broadest sense. These included concerns about household income and expenditure as expected but also longer term worries about their own financial literacy, independence and autonomy. Our co-production work also highlighted that young people may become socially isolated, excluded or vulnerable because of their financial circumstances, perceptions and financial literacy.

“The cost-of-living crisis has had a huge impact ..you've got parents that can't support their children as much as they would have done and the learners (young adults) can't get jobs as much as they would have … so there's that massive gap because they can't make money for themselves and the parents can't help them.”

– Teacher, Me & Money participating school

The pilot programme launched in November 2023, empowering young people to understand how mental health and money are connected. The pilot phase came to an end in March 2024 and in just 5 months we delivered workshops to 1,539 young people across the UK, 400% more than projected. The appetite and take-up for the programme surpassed expectations. Since then, we’ve been evaluating the effectiveness and feasibility of the pilot with a view to relaunching an enhanced programme in September 2024.

Evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of the Me & Money pilot consisted of benchmarking measurements for young people’s attitudes and knowledge around mental health and money from the outset, followed by focus groups and paired depth interviews providing rich data and insights to inform the development of the programme.

Pre-workshop surveys affirmed the significance of money concerns for young people, with between 61-75% reporting that they:

• worry about whether they will have enough money in the future,
• felt they didn’t have enough money personally,
• felt their family do not have enough money.

Me & Money presented a unique and timely proposition by combining mental health and money into a single programme. This innovative approach was welcomed by young people as it addressed two important aspects of life that are rarely looked at together.

“Not a lot of people talk about how mental health can be affected by money. (It is important) because it's very relatable for just everyone in general, people will stress over it at one point or another in their life, and sometimes it might affect your mental health a lot, and sometimes it's just a little and you know, like that that's normal and you're not alone.”

– Young person, workshop participant

Effectiveness of the pilot

Even in pilot form, our external evaluator found that the Me & Money programme was highly effective in developing young people’s understanding of the interconnection between money and mental health and how attitudes towards money can influence thoughts and behaviours.

Young people found the programme’s content informative and beneficial both in terms of understanding themselves and other people but also in preparing them for adulthood.

“How to manage your money is very important in life…. if you know how to manage your money… then you will be able to overcome these learning curves of how it's affecting your mental health and how it's affecting people around you.”

– Young person, workshop participant

80% – 86% of young people agreed that after the programme they:

• had a better understanding about the connection between money and mental health,
• had a better understanding of how our attitude towards money can influence our thoughts and behaviour,
• knew where to go, or who to turn to, to get support around money and mental health if needed.

74%-79% of young people agreed that after the programme they:

• found the workshop useful,
• had a better understanding of the tools and techniques they could use to manage their feelings and emotions around money,
• felt they would be able to use what they learnt in the workshop to help in them in the future.

As expected, there was a clear correlation between young people living in areas of high deprivation and their money worries. Moreover, concerns about their future financial stability were felt by everyone, irrespective of the area they resided.

“I'm worried more about the future. Like, I feel like now I do worry about it, but in the future, obviously we have more things to pay for… if you're already struggling right now, then what's that going to be like when you've got more stuff to pay for?”

– Young person, workshop participant

Alongside our efforts to improve the relevance and overall quality of the programme in time for relaunching in September 2024, are undertaking further co-production work to enhance the content and ensure it meets the needs of diverse young people.

“It’s been fantastic to see the impact Me & Money has had so far and we are so excited to relaunch the expanded programme in September. The full programme includes even more practical tools young people can use to manage their relationship with money, which emerged as a key concern in the pilot.

"The impact of money on young people’s mental health is a growing problem and we are delighted to be ready to support thousands more across the UK with a programme we know addresses their key concerns. The needs of young people in relation to money and mental health are complex, but it’s clear to us that young people want support to build their resilience around money and feel more confident in making the transition to adulthood, when they will manage their money independently. Me & Money has been designed to do just that."

– Charlotte Baldwin, Head of Young People's Programmes

Read the Me & Money impact report

To enquire about bringing the Me & Money programme to your group or organisation email the Me & Money coordinator, David Senga Lubendo:

[email protected]