Young people across the UK are turning to side hustles to keep up with rising costs, and the numbers are hard to ignore. Around one in three UK workers now has a side hustle, up two thirds since 2022.
Whilst inflation has cooled from its 2023 peak, everyday prices are still climbing faster than the Bank of England’s target.
CPI ran at 3.8 percent in the year to August 2025. That has kept pressure on household budgets and pushed many to find extra income online.
The squeeze is real for younger adults in the UK. The ONS reports the cost of living is the top concern for 16 to 29 year olds, and the Resolution Foundation’s Living Standards Outlook finds a record share of the public reported struggling to live on their income through 2024.
The online side-hustle surge
Against this backdrop, Prograd says it has helped thousands of young people earn more than £5 million collectively through online side hustles and simple ways to make money from home. The platform pulls together flexible earning opportunities and a “learn and earn” approach that rewards financial education.
Prograd’s app contains hundreds of gigs, from surveys and testing apps to tutoring and virtual assistant work, as well as a community that has already earned over £5 million.
Why Gen Z is embracing the hustle
Global surveys show Gen Z and younger millennials are pragmatic about money and are prioritising financial security and growth.
Charities and think tanks also point to rising demand for food and support among young people during the cost-of-living crisis, which is another reason many are looking online for fast, flexible ways to earn.
What people are actually doing to earn
The most popular online earners are easy and simple to start. Options include paid surveys, app and game testing, micro-tasks, tutoring, reselling on marketplaces and entry-level freelance work.
These can be done from a phone or laptop and scaled as confidence grows. The appeal is flexibility and low start-up cost, rather than get-rich-quick promises.
A human problem that needs practical answers
The story here is not about a sudden love of hustle culture. It is about people trying to make rent, cover travel and keep the lights on. Real household incomes have fallen again in 2023 to 2024 once inflation is factored in, with lower-income households hit hardest. Side hustles are one of the few levers young people can pull quickly.
For students juggling lectures, carers covering family duties or early-career workers on variable shifts, easy-to-use platforms that help them make extra are becoming more popular.
A nation of hustlers
Young people are not hustling for the sake of it. They are responding to a tough economic climate with practical choices that fit around their lives. Apps that allow them to quickly earn money online are growing in popularity, and they aren’t slowing down any time soon.
For now, our nation of hustlers are doing everything they can to stay financially afloat.
