1990s/2000s working while at uni?

[Sleepeatcrochetrepeat]

Eldest niece has just gone off to uni, and the cost of it all really does seem astronomical now. DBIL was saying how they are planning to cut down on holidays, spending etc to fund her on top of loans. I made the mistake of saying oh, she can always get a part time job just like I did when I was a student. It turns out that none of DH family or their partners worked while at uni, parents all paid.
I know this was before tuition fees came in (for me at least) but most people I knew at uni also had a weekend or evening job.

DH and his siblings all went to RG uni’s and apparently couldn’t possibly have worked as well, due to all the sports clubs they were in.

I am now being looked down on because I ‘obviously’ don’t get it.
Surely students working alongside studying is hardly weird?! Even more so now given the cost.

If you were at uni in the late 90s/early 00s, did you also work? Make me feel less of a freak…

Got myself though year one with savings from my pre-uni job, then from year 2 I worked every sat/sun and occasional evenings, and basically FT summer holidays . Course was demanding too, looking back I don’t know how I did it 🤣 I went to an RG uni and there weren’t many others with jobs…

I had 3 jobs in my final year, lol.

That’s English / humanities though. Some people genuinely wouldn’t be able to - my cousin did psychiatric nursing and it was full time hours plus, no time for paid work as well.

Late 80s and I don't recall anyone working in term time, I did in the summer holidays and we were able to sign on at Christmas and Easter if we couldn't find work. I also worked on Saturdays through my A levels and did a paid industrial placement year. That was more normal than termtime working at uni, it was hard to find part time work that would fit around going home for Christmas and Easter holidays (everyone went home) also it was a science degree with a pretty full timetable. I don't think there were so many p/t jobs back then, fewer pubs, bars, coffee shops, and everywhere had more limited opening hours and none of us had cars to get further afield.

My oldest DC has worked pt through uni and all the summers (working flat ojt at Easter and Christmas on assignments as it was a two semester uni). My youngest is about to go and has worked pt through 6th form, she plans to look for pt work at uni.

No none of my friends or DH worked

I worked both Saturday and Sunday and went to uni Monday to Friday (though a couple of half days in there).

Yes worked in a cafe and got some free food, which was a nice bonus!

Luckily for DS he has a hospitality job he can come back to in the holidays, he has really struggled to get a job in his Uni town despite great references, don’t get me started on the trial shifts which never result in a job, should be banned unless they are paid, it’s hard for them, hoping he might secure something for his second year.

late 90s, Durham - lots of posher/wealthier students didnt work during term time, but lots of uni bar jobs/student union stuff, as well as friends who worked in shops, catering etc.

summer holiday working definitely a thing.

Late 90s and worked in pubs all the way through. Remember doing many a double shift so god knows when I got any work done

Had my first part time after school job at 13 (1988) and always had a job ever since. Through college and uni often 2 or 3 small jobs working evenings and over the weekend.

Everyone I know did this.

To add, my holidays were taken up with extramural studies, which were rarely paid. A couple of holidays I managed to get a couple of weeks of pay, but most of the time, it was spent in positions that had to be done as part of the degree, and the employers knew they could take advantage of having a dogsbody.

We also lived semi-rurally so there really weren't many opportunities in the area, as well as boarding while at school. And during school holidays, I was mostly doing work experience to support my UCAS application.

Early 90s. I worked through every holiday. In our group only one out of four didn’t work.

I was at a collegiate RG 2003-2007 I worked and so did a lot of my friends, part time in bars, waitressing, the dream job was monsoon so you got staff discount and first pick at sale ball gowns! I was one of what felt like a handful of state school kids, but even a lot of the public school cohort worked, I knew the daughter of a Russian oligarch and at one point she sold Avon!! 😂 I think that was more because she was experimenting than needing the income tbh.

I went to a RG university to do medicine.

I worked 18 hours a week evenings/weekends/nights every week during term time, on top of a 9-5 degree course (longer hours during placements), and 60 hours a week in the holidays.

I had no financial support so no choice really, but almost none of my course mates worked, and most had fairly hefty top ups from parents and grand parents.

I still graduated with a distinction.

To be honest it was good practice for the 80+ hours a week as a house officer, but I can’t say it was the best Uni experience

All the students now doing a course for 5-10 hours a week who say they couldn’t possibly fit work in around their studies do annoy me somewhat

1997-2002 from degree to masters. I had jobs from halfway through the first year. But my dad also gave me a good chunk of spending money to cover accommodation, bills and shopping.

Went to uni in 2004, by end of first year all my housemates and I worked.
I had some friends who didn't work but most did.

Very few friends were bank rolled completely.

Was at uni 95-99. I worked all the way through in a variety of absolute shit jobs, ranging from a bar manager in a Ritzys nightclub, cinema usher, barmaid in various pubs, nightshift shelf stacker at tesco, deodorant factory, sorting office at royal mail, pot washer and kitchen girl in a michelin star restaurant and the worst place ever - the fish factory!

Supposedly, I landed my graduate job as I’d had real life experience of dealing with the public 😂

My DC at independent 6th form. On top of expected academic work, she plays sport commitments at 6th form and also plays for teams outside of 6th form. It is just dawning on us that she won’t even have time to do a part-time job!

I imagine she’ll be the same at University.

DH was at RG uni in 90s, he was the last year to receive maintenance grant. He didn't work during term time as was on a course with high contact hours but then worked full time during the holidays. His parents wouldn't have been able to afford to support him financially. For the last two years of his degree he was living with me and I worked full time in a crappy low paid admin job. We were very skint.

I did medicine in the late 1990s.

I worked part time during term time from Year 1 until Year 3 (including during my intercalated science honours year). I used to increase my hours during university holidays to increase my earnings and I saved like mad for my clinical years when I knew I wouldn't be able to work. One summer I did part time retail and a full time hospitality job.

I needed to do this as I paid for the majority of my living expenses myself.

I was definitely an outlier. Lots of people worked during the holidays but term time jobs were rare. Some people never worked at all instead receiving parental hand outs which included money to travel in the holidays.

I went in 1999 and stayed at home working in a local supermarket and my parents pub. I wish I’d moved but glad I had the money!

Only 1 person in my shared house worked, the rest of us didn’t. However it was back in the day of zero tuition fees and student grants, along with a bit of parental support.

I was at uni 2004-8 and worked. Termtime and holidays.

Mid 90s. We weren’t allowed term time jobs at Cambridge but I always had jobs in the long holidays chamber maid, kitchen porter, waiter, bar work, shop work, cleaning I did all of those.

I finished in 2004 and worked 26-30 hours a week throughout.