Three Jobs, No Heating And Loans A Fraction Of Inflation

Zoe Tidman talks to students struggling to survive cost crisis

- Zoe Tidman

Students are "struggling to survive" as government support fails to keep pace with the soaring cost of living, it is claimed. Universities have raised concerns about the growing financial pressure that has forced many students to take on more paid work this year to try to meet the rocketing cost of living, fearing that their capacity for study could be affected.

The Independent has spoken to students struggling to fit in academic work as they attempt to fund their way through university in an economic crisis. One second-year student said she is working 20 hours a week despite the pressure it puts on her studies. But without this job, she said, she would not be able to afford to buy vegetables.

University students receive a maintenance loan for their living costs - including rent - which varies depending on household income. Students living away from home can receive anything between £4,524 and £9,706 this year if they are outside London. In the capital, it's between £6,308 and £12,677. The loans being provided are around 2.3 per cent higher than last year - far below the 10 per cent inflation rate.

Hannah Nimmo, of the University of York's student union, says she is concerned that students will "not be able to afford to sufficiently live" because of the cost of living crisis - especially with the additional costs that arise during the winter. She says that the financial pressures affecting everybody - such as soaring energy bills and petrol costs - are compounded by maintenance loans not keeping pace with inflation.

"This is leaving students financially short, and as such, at risk of going cold by not turning on their central heating, or going hungry by skipping meals to cut down on their grocery shopping bills," she says.