About the project

Changing Realities is a participatory online project documenting life on a low income, and pushing for change.

Getting involved

Parents can get involved in a range of ways: completing online diaries, responding to our video big question of the week video, and taking part in virtual discussion groups and workshops. You can listen to some of our participants speaking about their experiences here.

Illustration Catherine Fortey

Background

As a cost of living crisis sweeps across the UK, it is more important than ever to listen and learn from people struggling to get by on low incomes. Changing Realities is a partnership between parents and carers living on low incomes, researchers, and Child Poverty Action Group. Together, we are working to document what everyday life is like during the cost of living crisis, and push for permanent changes to social security.

The work

Building on the work of our sister project Covid Realities we are focusing our work on three core themes. These are themes identified by parents and carers as particularly important.

  1. Improving relationships with DWP advisers in a digital age
  2. Supporting children in families that are on low incomes
  3. Improving Universal Credit for single parent families

As the project develops you will be able to read more about our work on these topics in the learnings section. You can also follow our work speaking out here. The voices of parents and carers are at the centre of all our work. We will also be developing work on a theme to be decided with participants, and in response to the changing context.

Changing Realities is a collaboration between parents and carers, researchers at the University of York, and Child Poverty Action Group.
Changing Realities is funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust.
Changing Realities' sister project is Covid Realities, which ran from 2020 to 2022, and was funded by the Nuffield Foundation
Visit website
A collaboration between
Supported by