A Liverpool student said he feels "hopeless" with just £50 to last him three months as students turn to food pantries and Aldi food vouchers to survive.
With most of the full £9,250 maintenance loan he receives going on rent, Jack (not his real name) has to work while studying maths and finance at the University of Liverpool. But he's hired on a zero-hour contract, gets only a day of work each week, and he said his employer owes him roughly £400 in unpaid wages.
This means he has has to think carefully about what he buys, turn down nights out with friends, and walk 40 minutes to university instead of taking the bus. Like many students, he's struggling with the rising cost of living, and he's worried about the future.
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Second year student Jack, 20, told the ECHO: "Right now, when I say I'm broke, I am so broke. I'm on my last £50 for the next three months. Most of my student loan goes towards rent. I'm working, but work hasn't given me a paycheck. It's quite tough right now, I'm basically having to ask my parents for money."
It's not just Halloween he's missed because he couldn't afford a costume to wear or drinks in the club. He's been unable to see his girlfriend, who's studying in Oxford, because "tickets are quite pricey". He said: "It sometimes makes it hard on the relationship, but it is what it is. Sometimes I feel sad because I want to see her, I really do. I could ask my parents for money, but I feel bad asking them for money."
More students are relying on foodbanks, asking family and friends for money, and turning to institutions' hardship funds than at the start of the year, according to a survey of 3,417 students by the National Union of Students (NUS). The survey, released in July, found more than half said their student loan or bursary didn't cover the cost of energy bills, a weekly shop or a comfortable life.
Roughly 90% of survey respondents said the rising cost of living had impacted their mental health, leading Liv Vann, the vice president of welfare and community at Hope University's Student Union, to say it's having "a big effect on mental health".
The 21-year-old, who graduated with a degree in psychology and English language in July, said: "I come from a poorer background, so that meant I got enough loan to get me through, but I know people I lived with who had to take on extra jobs. They were doing uni full time and then working pretty much full time as well purely to get themselves through.
"The impact that has on a student's mental health, like they've got enough to deal with anyway, with the stress of university and doing a degree, let alone worrying about survival, and it's only going to get worse, which is really worrying."
As well as stocking bathrooms and the officers' office with free period products, the union is currently setting up a food pantry to provide cheaper food to students. It also runs a helpline and has a member of staff offering advice to students "who are anxious and want to look for like different funds that are available to them".
In September, it started offering £20 Aldi vouchers to students in urgent need of funds to afford food and bills. Some are concerned about surpassing the cap private landlords put on household bills included in the rent, with Erin Meharry, the Hope Student Union's president, saying many don't realise they've crossed the threshold until their landlords hand them a bill to pay at the end of their tenancy.
Most universities have a hardship fund to help students in financial difficulty. This month, the University of Liverpool announced it's tripling its fund from £50,000 to £1.5m and said it's " invested in additional staff resource" to process applications.
But Jack said finds it "embarrassing" to ask for help, even though, like most respondents to the NUS survey, he thinks the situation is "just going to get worse". Erin, 21, said: "It is scary thinking about Christmas coming up. I even had this talk with my taxi driver coming to work about how I've seen so many houses not decorated at Halloween. I just couldn't imagine people spending £14 or £15 on sweets to give out to people, and then it just made me think about Christmas."
Jack said: "If we do more things for ourselves within the UK, even relying on renewable energy. We could do way more and reduce the cost of living. "
He added: "The country just needs to get sorted. We need to start earning more. Everything seems so pricey, it's just hard and no one does anything about it. They always say they're going to do something about it and it just goes around in circles. Covid went and now we've got something else, we've got the cost of living, we've got this Ukraine thing with Russia. I just find it a bit hopeless."
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