To think the government needs to something quickly to help families financially supporting children at Uni.

[Fl0renc3]

Mortgages are going up( ours will by 300 when we remortgage v soon), energy bills will be going up hugely, ditto food, petrol etc…. Already making all the savings we can.

We have got to start paying our child £500 a month to live on from October on top. It was already going to be a squeeze.Her bills will be rocketing too so who knows if what we were planning to give her will be enough.

We don’t have a money tree and have 2 other children due to start Uni in the next few years. I know the poorest and the richest will be ok re funding for their child at Uni but there is a massive band in the middle who won’t. Whether or not you can go to Uni shouldn’t be decided on parental income( thanks Tories) but those already there and just starting are going to be in dire straits as are the families supporting them.

I understand what you’re saying but I feel if help is given it also needs to be given to parents of young kids paying over double that in childcare, lower down in their careers so often earning less. We are the squeezed middle and are crippled. High mortgage just gone up by £320 a month. Childcare going up from September, obviously all bills etc and food shooting up. £500 covers your whole expenses for the child that month- with extra food, clothing, baths etc each child is costing us at least £750 a month and it’s killing us. Above the threshold for any support.

It wasn't the Tories who abolished the student grant, brought in tuition fees and student loans.

It was Labour under Blair.

So the loans are enough to cover your dd's accommodation and you're giving her £500 a month? what's the issue? Some students have to live on £20 or so a week.

I was in the squeezed middle like your dd and I took a gap year before uni, worked throughout uni and went to a local uni. Never felt like I was missing out tbh

Don’t be silly, we just don’t expect families on such high wages to not bother planning ahead and then expecting everyone else to pitch in for their already over privileged children who can’t even be bothered to get a job to help out.

But presumably the transport to one town can connect you to other towns?

Chris but I couldn’t bear this defeatist attitude from so many that the actual choices they make limit their lives so much

I'm lucky enough to be in the group of people who's child isn't eligible for full loan due to parent income. I have an 8yo which means 10 years left till she might go to uni, loads could change between now and then with uni fees and loans but I know that in 10 yrs she will be 18 and either going on to uni or something else linked to becoming an adult.

So I'm saving for it, that way there will be money available to pay for it, whatever 'it' is.

Personal responsibility seems to be a completely foreign concept to so many posters, OP included.

Agree with this!

While DD's father isn't a multi millionaire I never understood why his financial obligations towards her stopped when she was 19 & went into higher education & mine continue until she's at least 25 when she's eligible to be classed as an adult in her own right for educational funding & benefits.

I’m just waiting for OP to come back and explain why living a little rurally with no reliable transport and with parents working full time so unable to taxi to jobs, and the apparent lack of jobs all means her daughter can’t work…

And yet both the younger siblings apparently work. Maybe as super heroes, and they can fly 🤔

I've got 2 at uni this year. One doing a course like medicine / vet /nursing with an intensive course and one doing a PGCE. both have worked full time over the summer but won't be able to work whilst at uni.

Their dad doesn't pay maintenance and won't support them at uni.

For the sneerers I had almost 4 years between them. The elder of these two went to college part time worked for a year before going to uni after a breakdown in their A level year which held them up and my other child is 7 years older so was out of university before either of them started.

I'm dreading this year it's going to be tight.

NameChange You have my sympathies. Yes I agree with you. Here is the OP going on about £500/month for, in reality, only 8months of the year while those paying full time nursery fees are on their knees until the 3yr old funding kicks in. Although I hope you’re taking full advantage of the government’s tax free childcare help.

That’s a whole different thread but in this case, does give a healthy dose of perspective. Thank you.

But OPs daughter isn’t a child, she’s a fully grown adult in the eyes of the law, and in the eye of the befits system. And we’re talking about a loan in the daughters name, repayable by her but based on her parents income. It’s a totally different situation than paying for a dependent child

I remember working part time at uni during the last recession. It did me no harm.

Your talking g like the recession is already deep and there are no jobs. If your child was to really actively look they'd find a Job 100%. Might not be what they want, might have to travel, but they ate out there.

Maybe a mother of all recessions comes and destroys all jobs they can do, but at least they will have earned something before then.

And in the end getting a part time job will help them to get into.the real world. Eventually uni ends and they will have to get a job, MH issues or not. Better acclimatise to it now than have the huge shocker of full time work.

There aren't 'other towns'. That's the town. Unless you really are suggesting people should spend what they earn on travel, and take 3 hours to get there...

Anyway, I was just pointing out that I did understand that part of the issue. My two DCs will/ do have their loan topped up, as the system requires. No sponging. So no issue. I am sure DS2 will continue a job hunt, continue living frugally, and continue his academic endeavours, too.

When did the idea that students should be supported by their parents and not have to work start? When I was at University everyone worked at least part time, and many full time or close to it. I literally can't remember anyone who didn't. Some people got a small amount of money from their parents, but many didn't. We considered ourselves adults, not children.

It's the system though florenz. It's means tested and parents are meant to top up to the full amount.

If a student then chooses to earn money to live a bit less frugally, all power to them
But parents, unless student has full loans are absolutely supposed to contribute, although OP's sums seem a bit out.

DH and I are moving house this month into our local city because we are already foreseeing the pitfalls of living rurally as we currently do. Our kids are 9 and 5 and we want to be in a place where everything is more accessible. Especially because we never want to move again and it dawned on us that one day, either one or both of us will no longer be able to drive. it seemed a sensible choice to make the move now.

I’ve had a few wobbles about moving but actually reading this thread has made me realise we’ve 100% made the right call.

Her numbers are ridiculous, as is her decision to not bother to save up while they were younger.

I didn't save up when mine were younger because I was in a minimum wage job as a single parent to 3 kids with a 3 hour a day commute and I never got a penny in maintenance.

Ffs. What was I supposed to save it from?

I do agree with this. Roughly half of people I know worked during term time - 15 hours a week at Tesco, bar work at student union etc that type of thing. The rest of us (I chose not to work in term time) worked summers or even all holidays. I never found it that hard to find a summer job and did a strange variety of things. The last summer I did an internship which paid pretty well and set me up with my graduate job.

Those who lived rurally may have found it harder to work summers and they would be more likely to work term time because of it.

Now I’m a parent I know LOTS of other parents who are employing part time nannies through things like Koru Kids to do school pick ups and look after them for a few hours at home or escort them to play dates or after school activities. Every single one of them that I have spoken to at pick up or at play dates are university students. As long as the children are school age I think it’s fairly straight forward and you don’t need to be ofstead registered or anything.

I think it’s easier to get a job as a student now, if anything.

The OP is on at least £60,000 a year, her husband works too. Why would your situation have any bearing on the OP’s ability to save?

So your town is only connected to one other town via public transport, and vice versa? No connections anywhere?

And yea actually if you live rurally you should be prepared to get more than one bus to get where you need to be. School children do this FFS

It’s not a requirement for parents to top up. Students can still work.

It actually is. That's how parental contributions work. That's precisely why it is means tested.

Literally nowhere have I said students shouldn't work too .

No, just listed a string of reasons why they shouldn’t.