Some students are regularly skipping meals to cut costs

The cost of living crisis is the new normal for students as they are skipping meals, worrying to make ends meet and finding innovative methods to make money alongside their studies.

The Student Money Survey published its results this week, finding 67 per cent of respondents skip meals at least some of the time to save money, up from 64 per cent last year. Food bank use has halved to 9 per cent, but the cost of living crisis is here to stay and food poverty is a core component.

These findings are based on a self-selecting unweighted online survey sample including responses from 1,010 university students in the UK, gathered between April and August 2024. As such results are unlikely to be representative of the sector as a whole, or comparable with previous iterations. Despite this, these data points do represent the experience of genuine students – and represent a worrying insight into the lives of some of the many students that are struggling to make ends meet. They further reflect a lot of the conversations Jim and I have been having over summer visiting student union officers.

Money is tight across the sector – for universities and students – but HE funding can’t be addressed without looking at student poverty.

Inflation has slowed but food inflation has not gone down. In fact, the food component was consistently higher than overall inflation for around 18 months and those on the lowest incomes cannot trade down. The survey reiterates that rents continue to climb with the average rent being £439 in 2023 and is now at £540.

I rely on my breaks at work to give me free food

I went a week living on 300k cal a day because I couldn’t afford food and I had to pay my phone bill instead

I really need textbooks but in order to save I’m having to cut my food and social life down which is affecting my mental health.

More students are working and that’s still not enough. They’re eating less and prioritising digital devices and resources for their studies. My colleague Livia looked at digital poverty this month.

Some 81 per cent of students who responded to the survey are worried about making ends meet. This is only one point down from 2023 and 2022.

The results of this survey have continued to be concerning over recent years. Findings like this have become the new normal for the sector and for students.

For students in England (and Save the Student’s focus), the level of maintenance loans available is a root cause of these issues. The average student loan for England in 2023-24 was £7,202 (£600 a month), with three fifths of respondents saying it wasn’t enough to live on.

So where do students make up the money?

Around 58 per cent of respondents have a part time job and for those working their average monthly earnings are £507 a month. 51 per cent said the maintenance loan, 50 per cent support from parents, 49 per cent savings and 27 per cent are using their overdraft.

Students are drawing on a wider range of income that are often more accessible than part time work and can fit around their studies.

31 per cent of respondents said they complete surveys, 30 per cent have their own business or side hustle, 24 per cent are selling possessions, 5 per cent are gambling, 4 per cent are involved in drug trials, 3 per cent in social media and cryptocurrencies and 2 per cent in sex work.

Save the Student highlights some “surprising” ways students have made money including working on TikTok, selling AI generated images, psychological studies and working as a film extra.”

The focus on making ends meet has had a natural impact on student attendance and engagement over the last few years. Many are making conscious decisions about coming onto campus to protect their finances first and their degree second.

There’s a structural problem here with the outdated means-testing student maintenance loans and their inability to keep up with inflation. It also points to the need for flexible studying so students can balance earning and learning.

A lot of this data will not be a surprise. It tells a concerning story that student poverty is rife in HE and students are making increasingly tough choices about engaging with their degree and making ends meet.

More providers are now cognisant that this is the new normal students and a lack of attendance and engagement doesn’t reflect laziness – students are making much tougher choices about finances. More practically, students are asking for flexible timetabling, job opportunities on campus, continued access to cheap food, financial literacy and the resources they need to succeed in their studies. These are all ways of helping students cope with current costs, rather than to solve a crisis that has been incredibly normalised.