Property consultancy The Property Marketing Strategists (TPMS), Dig In and The Crowd Agency have released research regarding the effect of the cost of living crisis on students as part of The Youth Forum report.
The report finds that a staggering 78% of student’s mental health is impacted because of the cost of living, with 64% saying they are struggling financially.
61% of students are now working – a rise from 48% last year. Those working more than 21 hours has doubled to 42% from this time last year (21% working over 21 hours last year).
“When speaking to young people, it is clear they are really concerned about the cost of living – and the stats back it up. As the cost of living continues to bite, our young people are more concerned than ever about their finances.
“Some will say, they should get a job – and that’s exactly what they’ve done, we have seen an increase in young people working but concerningly those working more than 21 hours has doubled. And whilst this may be good for their pocket and the economy, this must be having a detrimental impact on their education – and it will impact our workforce long term.
“Despite our young people working harder, there are growing concerns around their mental health, helpfully though we are seeing more people speak to their university for help (from 15% to 35%). But if you speak to a university, they’ll share openly that resources are tight! It is only a losing situation, our students are spending time working when they should be learning, burning out when they should be ambitious and excited for their next stage. The net result will be a loss for us all long term unless the government steps up to support students.”
Sarah Canning, Co-Founder, TPMS
Nearly a third (27.5%) also report that they have an active ‘side hustle’ to help them financially – from being a social influencer to selling items online, dog walking or tutoring.
TPMS also report that 78% of students are concerned about how they are going to pay their rent with the financial pressures and 60% of students are concerned about how they are going to pay their bills.
43% are concerned with how they are going to pay for food, with 7% resorting to using a foodbank or receiving food from a charity.
“In our fifth year as medical students, we won’t get student finance, just a maintenance loan of £1,000. That’s it. I think a lot of people are really worried next year about how they’re going to pay rent because you can’t live off £1,000 a year. There are bursaries, but they’re so hard to get. You need to be in really specific circumstances and have to prove all of this; a lot of people can’t meet the criteria even though they can’t afford their rent!”
Abigail, Qualitative Research attendee for the report
Other findings reveal:
- 24% work one to ten hours per week.
- 35% have spoken to their university about financial worries, up from 15% last year.
- 24% work under ten hours a week, compared to 59% last year.
- 34% work 11-20 hours a week, compared to 21% last year.
- 15% work 21-30 hours a week, compared to 9% last year.
- 24% work 31-40 hours a week, compared to 7% last year.
- 3% work more than 41 hours a week, compared to 4% last year.
