Young Australians forgoing necessities as cost-of-living crisis deepens wealth divide

Allyssa Ablon is among the thousands of young Australians at the forefront of the cost-of-living crisis. ‘There isn’t a way to improve my circumstances without money,’ she says. Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian

Allyssa Ablon suspected other young people like herself were struggling – but the hundreds of comments on her TikTok post confirmed it.

In the post, Ablon listed all the essential items she had cut because of the cost-of-living crisis. More than 800 people replied, detailing what they had been forced to give up.