The cost-of-living crisis is going to do exactly what the COVID crisis did. I've heard so many witnesses to inquiries held by both of the committees of which I'm a member—equalities and social justice and children, young people and education—repeat this, or words to that effect, when referring to the undeniable evidence that not only will the impact of this crisis again be deeper in the most deprived areas of Wales, which, of course, will double the death rates of those with less social deprivation, but it's that same inequality and those same vulnerabilities that the cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating. 

This is why the cost-of-living crisis, in my opinion, has to be seen in the same terms as the COVID crisis. That is why those most vulnerable to potential harm should also be shielded by Government in this crisis. As with COVID, the worst-affected will be those who already suffer socioeconomic disadvantage and groups of people who already face barriers as regards housing, employment opportunities, income gaps, health inequalities and education. Poverty is affecting young people aged 16 plus in a unique way. Rising food costs, transport costs and equipment costs make education less affordable to those from low-income families. Young people from less affluent backgrounds can't turn to their families for financial support and many are experiencing real hardship: no heating, little to eat, some facing homelessness. How are they meant to focus on study? 

The needs of this group of young people, of course, in my opinion, should be fully addressed in a comprehensive new child poverty strategy, which we have long called for, with measurable targets and outcomes. The Welsh Government, of course, does not have the power to stop bills soaring and can't ensure that the Tory Westminster Government increases benefits so that no-one has to rely on foodbanks or face cutting down on heat. But this motion speaks to one action it can take to help people who are most at risk of the harms of the cost-of-living crisis: young people from low-income families. Without the support they need, of which the EMA should and could form a part, they will be harmed by the consequences of being denied the chance to fulfil their educational potential, as Mike Hedges rightly illustrated, and the opportunity gap that continues to blight our country will deepen.

The Welsh Government's response to the calls of anti-poverty campaigners such as the Bevan Foundation to uprate the EMA, both in terms of the allowance and in terms of the eligibility threshold, has been that it is simply not affordable. What really isn't affordable is to limit the potential of our most disadvantaged young people who already have far fewer opportunities than better-off learners to lead prosperous, healthy and fulfilling lives. I urge Members to support this motion.