According to a new report, more students in England than ever are taking on paid work during term-time, and many are being forced to work over 20 hours a week just to make ends meet. Not only do students have less time to study as a result of these economic pressures, they are socialising less, playing less sports, joining fewer societies and spending less time on campus.
“Maintenance support is currently woefully inadequate, leading students to live in substandard ways, to take on a dangerous number of hours of paid employment on top of their full-time studies or to take out commercial debts at high interest rates,” said Nick Hillman, the director of The Higher Education Policy Institute, which published the report.
Back in the day, when the government actually paid people who go to uni, students were often stereotyped as lazy, no-good loafers who spent their time watching breakfast television or having long, self-indulgent conversations about French philosophers in the student union bar. If that were ever true, it’s no longer the case: today’s students are working harder than ever, and often with less disposable income to show for it. These part-time jobs, for the most part, aren’t funding nights out, interrailing trips or Korean skincare, but basic essentials like food, energy bills and rent, all of which have gotten dramatically more expensive in recent years.
As it stands, even the highest available maintenance loan – which is only available for people from a low-income background – is barely enough to cover half of the costs faced by English students. The report is calling for a Minimum Income Standard for students, which would guarantee a “minimum socially acceptable standard of living.” It estimates that first-year students need at least £260 a week to cover their living costs (excluding rent) and that students need an average of £61,000 over the course of a three-year degree, although this might vary from city to city. These figures are designed to include not just essentials but the ability to fully participate in university life, without having to get into debt or spend an exorbitant number of hours working part-time.
If the government implements the proposal, maybe the “traditional university experience” will make a comeback, and English students will have a greater freedom to join societies, take up badminton, hang out on campus, or simply get stoned in a dressing gown while watching CBeebies.
