What constitutes a “large family”?

[LucieMorningstar]

Wondering what people believe constitutes a “large family”? More than 3 kids for example?

Just interested really as it’s something I hear a lot, but I’m not talking Radford family size!!

More than four is large to me.

Which uni? Cheapest halls left in clearing at Glasgow this year were over £4000

LoniceraJaponica we are paying over 7k. I think logic is lost on some people. It will be the potato peelings stories next .

And I often think it’s people with much younger children who have no real concept of how an 18 year old school leaver might just still need financial assistance.

It’s in Wales, so admittedly a cheap area. But even a bit over 4000 is only adding a couple of hundred on top of the loan (cheapest hall in Bristol is 4215 I think). A couple of hundred a year is only a few pounds a week it’s not a massive change in expenditure. It’s not the same as shelling out 50k per child and based on that deciding it’s impossible to have more than 2 because that 50k is a necessary expense like providing food and clean drinking water.

I jzst looked out of interest - my old first year room in halls would cost 4k a year this year. They now have various fancy pants ensuite and superior ensuite options which normal students would never have even considered when I was at uni. Only wealthy foreign students had ensuite rooms and it was considered a sign of not wanting to mix with the rest of us! I've read lots of MN pists from people who think only an ensuite will do for their 18 year old child though For a superior ensuite you can pay up to 7.5k. Catering would be more but it's was always mostly self catered - now there are various catered packages.

London and a couple of other cities will always be very expensive unavoidably, but sometimes people are paying huge amounts in accommodation costs because they have very spoilt children!

They still have to eat Die. These halls aren't catered.

But let’s say you don’t want them getting a job and are willing to feed them while they’re at uni to avoid it. You were already feeding them. Your total food spend needn’t be any higher, maybe a smidge if you cooked family meals (have to admit once I was a teenager I was cooking my own separate meals) but not a massive amount. It’s the samè basic level of expenditure you spent before.

We have four children and I don't feel like we're a large family. Unless I'm having a bad parenting day because trying to get a table for six in McDonalds is so much harder!

They would surely need their own money to buy their own food. I was lucky in that I went to uni in a cheap part of the country and could easily afford rent and some pot noodles with my loan. My DSis loan didn't even cover her rent.

I think what needs to be considered is that young people don't tend to be as self sufficient as early as they used to be. Many of them come back after university as they can't afford housing, whereas that was quite rare when I went to university.

So you may be helping to finance your children longer than 18 years, so if you have a large family you may be doing this for many years.

Oohh, it’s good parenting now to not give an 18 year old any extra money. I see.

I would say 6+

My mum is 1 of 10. Husband is 1 of 4 and he says it was average (for them anyway!) we have 2 and I am completely run ragged! 😂😂

I will certainly not be funding my children through Uni, I funded myself and beyond the normal doing their washing at the weekend and buying some groceries that's it, It teaches them no independence at all to have everything covered by someone else and to not have to prioritise what is needed over what they want. University is as much about growing up as it is about gaining your education.

1-2 children is small
3-4 medium
5-8 large
9+ is really big!!

IMO anyway xxx

So those saying that they won't be funding their children, did you have to pay for your accommodation yourself when you went to university?

4+ in my opinion.

Oohh, it’s good parenting now to not give an 18 year old any extra money. I see.

We all try and undo the mistakes of our own parents. Mine (financially) spoiled me rotten despite not paying for uni so I want to do the opposite with my kids by making sure they understand the value of money and being self-driven from a young age. I don’t want them dossing around like I did safe in the knowledge mummy and daddy will pick up the tab and make it better if anything goes wrong.

Other people had tight ass parents who made their lives harder than they needed to be seemingly arbitrarily and now want to lavish everything they didn’t have on their kids.

We hope we get the balance right (maybe zzzzz’s parents did) but if not I’m sure my kids will be aiming to pay for their kids to go to university.

The important thing is not to do what my parents did which is include the assumption of a large drop off in expenses when your kids hit 18 in your pension planning. Genuinely sorry mum and dad.

The government expects parents to top up the loans- hence the loans are based on parental income. Hence if you are getting no extra help you have to go through an official declaration. It’s as simple as that.

4 or more is large.

Whether sharing bedrooms is OK depends on the kids. I would have absolutely hated it, my sister and I didn't get on. It would have been hell on earth. My cousin's chose to continue sharing even when their elder sister moved out because they liked it.

ineedaholidaynow Yes, I stayed in halls in first year and then bought a car and traveled second and third ( It was cheaper and I realised more attractive to graduate employers after my degree to have my own transport) We have two really good Universities here I've been to both and.

All funded by student loan and working part time in Tesco on a Saturday morning.

The government expects parents to top up the loans- hence the loans are based on parental income.

We've been saving - not a lot but every month since they were born. So have one of their DGP. Won't be huge amount - they'll need the loans, and I expect we'll have to top up, them work and we are already suggesting maybe a year rent free while they save.

My parents didn't cover my costs at university, but honestly the reality of not doing this can mean that your child may not be able to access the most elite type of education. Oxbridge actively discourage their students taking on paid employment whilst studying as they feel it will detract from their studies. Also it would be a stroke of fantastic luck if the best course possible in your child's chosen subject happened to be commutable from your home.

If your child is in the elite then not funding their education may well mean they don't reach their potential.