What is the 'cost of living' crisis?

You've probably heard people talking about a 'cost of living' crisis and the problems it is causing recently.

It means everyday life is more expensive than it was before.

For a variety of reasons prices are going up and, although governments say they are trying to take action to make things easier, for many people it means that tough choices are having to be made about how to spend their money.

Ricky has been finding out how this has affected children in the UK, and he spoke to an expert to understand why it's happening.

Watch his special report here.