Cost of living: Archive footage shows struggles over the decades

The film shows protests over rising energy bills

A new film of archive footage shows the impact of the cost of living struggles in Yorkshire and the north-east of England over several decades.

The film, produced by York St John University, features film stored by the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives.

Parents skipping meals to feed their children, protests over rising energy prices and advice on saving money, familiar in 2023, all feature.

Entitled Cost of Living, it has been made available to watch online.

Graham Relton, the film's producer and archive manager at the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives, said the footage had "parallels with what many experience today" and poses questions about what can be learned from previous generations.

"Our moving image heritage can be like looking into a mirror from the past. What we see reflected can shine a light on the cracks that we see in our world," he said.

Families reliant on food banks are interviewed in the footage

The 16-minute film, commissioned by the university's Cinema and Social Justice Project, pulls together footage from more than 200 sources.

It explores issues such as housing, homelessness, poverty and activism and uses clips mostly taken from regional news and documentary programmes made between the 1960s and 1980s.

It includes voices from Leeds, York, Hull, Sheffield, Wakefield, Teesside, Newcastle, Gateshead, Jarrow and Blyth.

The film includes interviews with people forced to steal to eat, parents made homeless with their children, and drivers angry about fuel costs.

Shops are seen closing down and demonstrators march in the streets to protest over poor housing.

The film explores issues including housing and homelessness

Dr Lauren Stephenson, a senior lecturer in film and media communications, said Cost of Living "reveals our collective memories of past crises" and "starkly highlights the need to listen to and learn from our past if we are to hope for a more socially and economically just future".

Originally intended as a resource for students, the film has been made available online to mark World Day of Social Justice on 20 February.

It will also be screened at festivals across the UK and shown to school pupils through the British Film Institute's educational charity.