We’ve all been in a position where money has been tight and we’ve had to swallow our pride and ask our parents for a bit of cash to get us through until we either get paid or get on an even keel.
University, in particular, is a time when money is tight and parents will more than likely be called upon to get their offspring out of a sticky financial situation.
With this in mind, a well-known insurer has recently highlighted just how much parents can be expected to help out their children and many people are shocked at the extent of the financial help required.
The findings from the research highlighted that parents up and down the country were having to prop up their university-studying offspring by about £300 per month. The research suggested a lot of this was because the student had miscalculated their finances and had run out of money which would have meant that they would have defaulted on payments and/or would not have had enough money for food.
Of the parents surveyed, the majority said that they weren’t overly happy about having to support their child as regularly as they had been doing, but felt that they had no choice as it would mean that their child would have to quit university as it was that expensive.
The findings also highlighted that as many as two in ten parents were funding the university experience for their child completely. This means that they are paying for tuition fees as well as giving them money to get by.
When asked why parents felt the need to do this, the majority said that they didn’t want their child to be saddled with debt and wanted to give them a clean break after their studies to get a job and set up home without the struggle and burden of having to pay back thousands of pounds.
Unfortunately, however, there are many families that simply can’t afford the luxury of helping their youngsters out in this way and this is making people fear that only students with rich parents will be able to afford university in the years to come.
It would be in everyone’s best interests if students could find a part time job whilst at university to help bolster income and consequently not rely on parents as much – but we do appreciate that it is harder than ever before for people to get a part time job in areas where there is a high student population as everyone is vying for the same kind of work. For every job that is advertised, it is not unheard of to get well over 50 applicants.
It should also be noted that students say that they don’t perform as well in their studies if they have a job that means they have to work more than 16 hours a week. They say it makes them tired and unable to focus in exams and lectures.
Even though we believe it is probably for the best that students get a taste for real life and have to work for their money, we can fully appreciate the dilemma that they face.
It hardly seems fair that some students have to work all hours’ god sends to get by and then struggle through studies at the same time, whilst other people don’t have to work and have all the time in the world to prepare mentally for exams which, ultimately, they will fare better in.
A person’s success in higher education should never come down to family wealth, we should’ve moved on from those times; but this is certainly the case these days. If a student has wealthy parents who are prepared to pay for their stint at university, they will consequently fare better in their exams, meaning they will come out with a higher quality degree and get a better job. Where is the fairness in that?