Nobody ever seems to be truly prepared for the shit show that is moving out of home, which is why the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) have created a tool to help. Launched with the knowledge that there’s no 100-level paper on bullshitting through life, the Bureau announced the ‘Youth Tool Kete’ on March 13th to provide a one-stop-shop for solutions to all of the most common issues under-25s have.
For those not in the know, CAB is a volunteer-run organisation that provides free advice to navigate the bureaucracy-ridden hellscape here at the University. They offer things like legal advice, budgeting tips, and help with benefits.
According to their Youth Engagement Report, “young people” (yo) went to CAB with problems relating to rental issues and conditions of work at much higher rates than the rest of the population. With just under 5,000 inquiries for help from “young people” in 2023, it’s clear many of us don’t know what to do when shit hits the fan.
That’s where CAB steps in, ready to provide legal advice quicker than your first-year law school mate who reckons they’ll be able to defend you in court. While the term “legal advice” may sound daunting (or boring), it actually encompasses a wide range of potential issues you may run into.
On Kete, some of the youth-focused issues you can learn about include how to not get fucked over by your landlord, rights at your minimum wage job, and how to make sure the Facebook Marketplace car you bought for $750 is legit.
Anika Green, CAB’s Youth Engagement Advisor, said, “It was great to see fellow rangatahi at the launch using our new youth website and finding answers to their questions. We are so pleased to have the site go live because we know it will be a valuable, go-to online information resource for young people all around Aotearoa.”
This new website was launched to coincide with CAB’s ‘Youth Week’ – coincidentally the same week as St Patty’s. It’s almost like they knew our antics were about to get questionable.
To understand when services like this may be useful, Critic had a yarn with Tiana, a second-year student who had a traumatic driving experience as a fresher. She said, “I was a 17 year old punter fresh out of home, armed with nothing but a Studylink contract and the mistaken notion that laundry somehow does itself.”
Continuing, she said, “Despite my ignorance […] we ramped up the Mazda Demio, ignored the flashing fuel light, and headed for the beach. Two kilometres down Cumberland, we were left stunned and stranded with nothing more than our bare feet, togs, and boogie boards staring at the remainder of my car which now bore more resemblance to the Hindenburg.”
“After looking over this website [CAB] my first thought was ‘well this is all just common sense, isn't it?’ However, what I could have used most in that spellbinding moment was probably just a little bit of common sense. Although it seems obvious, having a step by step of what to do would have saved me a lot of grief and prevented me from navigating the situation worse than a headless chicken with its feathers on fire.”