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From French lessons to food delivery, record numbers of young people are finding side hustles to make ends meet

After getting stung with a sudden $90 a week rent increase, Hoshi in Bunbury, WA, set about selling what they owned.

First, the furniture, bicycles, and sports equipment. Then, clothes and jewellery.

Finally, they gathered up the little things that had sentimental value.

They would sell them last.

“I’m not just missing $90 a week,” they said.

“With the price of vegetables and transport costs going up, it feels like someone has really just taken a huge bite out of that financial flexibility.”

Faced with rent increases, price hikes and stagnant wages, Hoshi is one of many young people who have been hustling for income on the side, outside of their normal job, to make ends meet.

The rush to pick up extra work has been seen across most age groups, but has been greater with young people, who are generally less financially secure and more exposed to the effects of inflation.

Young people are the most likely age group to have more than one job, and this trend is on the increase, ABS data shows.

For many, the situation is dire, but some are finding creative ways to stay afloat.

Working 9-5, and then hustling

Rose with her dog
Rose earns $200-$400 per week from three separate side hustles.(Supplied: Rose)

Outside of her full-time 9-5 office gig, Rose tutors French and Italian over Zoom, delivers online food orders, and sells the pot plants she propagates in her crowded Sydney apartment.

The hustle began two months ago, after lockdowns had eased and, like many, Rose found that the extra socializing was expensive.

On top of this, she had recently moved from a sharehouse to escape the chaotic and cramped experience of COVID lockdowns.

Living alone had been affordable when she was bunkering down, but not anymore.

“Lockdown kind of changed things — it made me want to have a bit more stability in my life,” she said.

“I got used to a nicer way of living at home and now I’m going back to those old comforts of going out, and I have to readjust.”

At the same time, the prices of most things are going up.

Average weekly rental payments have increased almost 10 per cent over the past year, while inflation is rising at its fastest rate since 1990.

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