When prose becomes poetry: how young people are rewriting the story of work

“The interview was prose at the time but it’s poetry in the memory.”

A few years ago, we were running a project called Making a Living at European Alternatives. We didn’t start with a big vision. Just a question: how are young people coping — really coping — with the pressures of trying to make a living?

At that point, the headlines were full of stats about unemployment, the gig economy, and mental health. But we wanted to go deeper. To listen in a way that felt more human than a survey. To give young people space to tell their story — in their own words, on their own terms.

We didn’t know quite what would come back. But what we received was something honest, moving and quietly radical. Not just hardship, but resourcefulness. Not just survival, but imagination. And a lot of humour and warmth in between.

This post shares how we approached it, why it mattered then, and why the method might be useful for others now — especially if you’re working in strategy, participation, digital, service design, or anything to do with understanding people better.

Why we turned to storytelling

When people talk about the cost-of-living crisis, they often miss what it feels like.

It’s the uncertainty of not knowing what you’ll earn next week. It’s the frustration of juggling four jobs to afford rent. It’s that moment when your boiler breaks and you just laugh, because what else can you do?

And yet, in the middle of that, people still show up. They create. They support each other. They figure things out.

That’s what we wanted to capture — the emotional and practical reality of “making a living” when the system isn’t set up to help you thrive.

How we did it — and what we learned

We didn’t use formal interviews or a big research agency. We asked young people to talk to each other — friends, peers, youth workers, neighbours. The tone shifted completely when they did.

Here’s what helped:

✳️ Keep the prompts loose

We gave people some suggested questions — about work, housing, expectations, what helped, what didn’t. But we told them to follow the energy in the conversation, not the structure.

🎙 Let them choose the method

Some people typed out responses. Some sent voice notes. Some just had a chat and jotted down notes later. We wanted it to feel informal and low-pressure, like the kinds of conversations you’d have in a café or park.

🧵 Don’t rush the end

We always asked: “Was there something I didn’t ask that you wish I had?”
That’s where some of the most powerful stuff came out.

✉️ Check it back

We sent every interview back to the person to check and approve. People were generous with what they shared — but we never took that for granted.

These stories fed into personas, scenarios, and eventually a short guide — not to prescribe solutions, but to help organisations imagine new ways of supporting people based on how they were already adapting.

Why this still matters

The project is a few years old now. But the lessons feel even more relevant today.

We’re still in a cost-of-living crisis. Still seeing burnout and precarity rise. Still hearing from people who don’t feel heard — in work, in policy, in services. The tools we used — creative interviews, peer-to-peer storytelling, lived experience-led design — are still powerful ways to bring some of that missing voice into how we plan and deliver change.

Who’s using similar approaches today?

Here are just a few examples of others exploring this kind of work:

🤝 New Local’s community-powered insights

Their reports show how listening and co-production lead to better outcomes. They’ve worked with councils across the UK to embed lived experience into everything from economic development to neighbourhood services.

🌍 Amsterdam’s 1000 Stories

As part of their Doughnut transition, the city gathered personal stories about everyday sustainability — not as a nice-to-have, but to shape real policy decisions.

🇮🇹 Naples’ community cooperatives

Local groups created their own zines, murals and interviews to tell the story of community-led services. It’s a different kind of narrative power — one that doesn’t wait for permission.

A gentle invitation

If you’re working in a strategy team, an innovation lab, a delivery function, or on any kind of public mission — this might be something to try.

It doesn’t need to be complex. You don’t need expensive consultants or shiny dashboards. Just ask real questions. Listen carefully. Let people speak in their own words. And stay open to being surprised.