ProMo-Cymru and Youth Cymru were commissioned by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to research and test ways to provide money guidance for young adults (18-25) in Wales who are about to enter the workforce (including apprenticeships).

The Youth Checkpoints project created and tested 3 prototype services. The aim was to provide MaPS with learning and recommendations based upon user feedback to guide future developments.

Approach

We ensured the project was co-designed by young people and practitioners supporting them, using a Service Design methodology.

Through a combination of primary and secondary research, we consulted with over 6,000 young people, 60 practitioners and undertook a literature review of existing evidence.

Development of prototypes

As the project focused on how to develop and embed multi-channel programmes for young people within existing provisions, we decided that our prototypes needed to be developed for and targeted at practitioners who already support young people in their day-to-day work.

We narrowed down our prototypes to:

▸ A helpline service to which practitioners could refer young people
▸ Training for practitioners to support young people on financial capability
▸ An accessible website and set of resources for practitioners to use with young people

Key Recommendations

Following six weeks of prototype testing with 25 practitioners and 10 young people, and critical analysis and evaluation of our findings, our overall project recommendations were:

▸ Recommendation 1 – Adopt a holistic approach to provide money guidance for young people
▸ Recommendation 2 – Develop youth friendly money related resources
▸ Recommendation 3 – Develop a clear navigation pathway of support for young people in Wales
▸ Recommendation 4 – Use modern communication methods and techniques to engage young people on the subject of money
▸ Recommendation 5 – Raise awareness amongst practitioners of young people’s needs, so they can better identify underlying money issues and provide more relevant and appropriate support
▸ Recommendation 6 – Develop specialist training for youth practitioners to equip them to be more confident to help young people 
▸ Recommendation 7 – Make the existing MaPS resources and tools more accessible for practitioners and young people practitioners to use
▸ Recommendation 8 – Use a combination of online and face-to-face training for practitioners

Outcomes

Our research echoed previous findings and evidence on how best to provide money guidance for young people (18-25). It also confirmed our hypothesis that by providing financial capability training to practitioners and developing an accessible website with a curated list of useful resources and tools, young people would be able to receive better financial support. Crucially, we created a pathway of support, which begins where young people are at key teachable moments.

We have publicised these findings among practitioners and key decision-makers in Wales. In addition, we are linking our research into strategic developments and drivers such as National Youth Information developments taking place with the Digital and Information Group as part of the Welsh Government’s Interim Youth Work Board, MaPS All Wales Financial Capability Forum and Regional Capability Forum.

You can download a copy of the report here.

Working with ProMo-Cymru

If you’re interested in working with ProMo-Cymru on a service design project, or would like more information about the project, we’re happy to chat! Contact Cindy Chen at Cindy@promo.cymru