student cost of living crisis

Universities

Around The Country

are raising the price of rent. The student housing charity Unipol has estimated that the average cost of rent has risen by 60% in the past decade. It now outstrips the average maintenance loan of £6,900.

In response to the crisis, students around the country have taken decisive action. In Manchester, approximately 150 students have, or intended to withhold their rent due in January.

In response to mounting financial pressure on the student population, the Russell Group has called for a review of parental earning thresholds. These have been frozen since 2008, leaving them unadjusted to the economic fluctuation of the last fifteen years.

The Department for Education’s response to the crisis has been to freeze tuition fees for the sixth year running and a “multimillion pound package to help students cover living and other costs”.

Amidst the national crisis, with strikes affecting schools across the country, it is unlikely that a broader policy response will be developed by the present government. Students will have to continue cobbling together a living from loans, parents and part time work to afford the bare necessities.