“I have to walk home so I can eat a proper dinner.”

Dear Editor,

After having discussions with groups of young people in different communities about the cost of living, we found that most of us are finding it difficult to survive in this country we call Guyana. Having daily conversations, it all reflects the same concerns. In Red Thread, the Youth Network has been talking about these issues that affect our livelihood: House rent too high, food prices doubled, wages too low.

Our conversations are not about being young anymore. They are about worry. Worry about food. Worry about bills. Watching our parents argue about money.

We can’t afford to be young and free without worry.

This is not just cost of living. This is cost of our future.

How each ministry can make this better:

• The Ministries of Finance and Labour: Raise the minimum wage and entry-level salaries to match the real cost of rent and food. Enforce fair pay for young workers. Create other programmes where young people are able to work and earn honestly, create online government lead programmes where people can elevate themselves for better wages.
• Ministry of Housing and Water: Make rent control real, rent should not be more than half of the minimum wage, young people want to be independent and worry free, provide affordable housing and youth housing support, young professionals’ homes should be more affordable so young people don’t have to pay their whole salary to be free.
• Ministry of Agriculture: Bring food prices down by half. Provide farm land, free seedlings and other farming supplies to young persons interested in farming and monitor, train them to grow more food. Support local farmers, markets, providing the necessary support to help bring down the cost for fruits and vegetables. Improve school/community food programmes, so no young person has to walk home to afford dinner.
• Ministry of Human Services and Social Security: Provide direct support such as proper business startups, proper family counselling and support, cash grants, and counseling for families under stress to stop financial arguments from breaking homes.
• Ministry of Education: Reduce cost of educational supplies, including laptops, provide free quality notebooks that are not easily destroyed, uniform vouchers that match the actual cost for uniforms, free, healthy, nutritional, and enough school meals for every school aged child, paid skills training for ages 19-28, in areas such as money management, conflict resolution, personality differences, survival in climate change.
• Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport: Create safe youth spaces for recreational. In the national park or another accessible public space can have a gaming ally of sporting, educational and fun activities, designed for young people to become members of and can go at any time to unwind the mental stress. Provide free transport for youth, and paid youth employment and entrepreneurship programmes so we are supported to learn without dropping out.
• Ministry of Health: Provide free, active and effective mental health support for young people ages 9-35. The ministry can do this by hiring and training young people about mental health and then creating programmes where young people are willing and comfortable to access mental help with their peers without judgement.

We should not have to pay to be free.