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.

Look on the bright side op, the loan actually covers accommodation. Many students live in overpriced blocks (1st year) and overpriced dumps (following years). The first year you're extremely lucky if the loan is enough. That's where your anger should lie, fuckers like Unite that have waiting lists for basically cupboards, they should be regulated. You can tell I'm still angry and this is 10 years on! Goodness knows what it's like now!

£100 per week sounds a lot for food and entertainment. What happened to a bag of pasta lasting several meals?

I am starting to think my job is no longer viable and we would be better off with the dc getting bigger student loans as a result of me not working.

Why don’t you and DH just quit your jobs and go on benefits?

You’d be entitled to the maximum loan amount, get your £20 a week child benefit and get housing benefit to cover some of your rent - you’d be laughing.

Just remember to update this thread to let us know how much easier your life is now you’re not a struggling middle class family.

Hardship funds aren’t for people whose parents can afford £500pm to give to their adult child

If the course is nursing or similar some work bank shifts as a HCA.

Well said @FreiasBathtub

StillHappy

And why could she not work in the holidays to earn money towards this?

She definitely worked. It’s the realisation that I wouldn’t now be able to support her rent that makes me sad.

FWIW DD was also told her course would be intensive and to be fair, course placements made work tricky during term term and meant also she incurred extra costs. But she was able to work and gain relevant experience during the long holidays, meaning she didn’t need to use her loan until later in the year. I think the OP is being a bit defeatist here and should remember that most employers like to see more on a CV than Uni.

ABit none of this is 'news' surely you have been aware of the situation? Student loans and parental contribution has been around for a long time. In fact even in the 70s when I got a 'grant' for Uni (no charge for fees) it was broadly based on parental income.

Defer her place , let her work FT for a year and save. Don’t charge her rent and let her save that money towards her expenses.
Or she can do what many, many WC kids do - work for longer THEN go to Uni. Or work to support herself while studying.
WC kids don’t get everything paid for - they get to go into ENORMOUS debt that they won’t get help from parents paying off.
and that’s if they even get the chance to go in the first place.

I know lots of MC parents like you, complaining about how they’re caught up paying like this, but the reality is - they can afford to. They just don’t like it.
and the ones from MC or posh backgrounds really don’t like the idea of their child ‘having’ to work - they seem to think it makes them look like they can’t afford to put their kids through Uni.
The ones with WC backgrounds like me, fully expect their kids to get a job of some kind, including my friend who works in film and could literally pay for EVERYTHING for her kids - Uni, fees, housing. She could by them a house each. But she’s not. Because she knows that the best thing she can do for her DS is to let him have a job.

Long and the short of it is, that looks if she can’t work due to ‘mental health’ then she is not fit for uni. The fact that you just say ‘mental health’ rather than any specific diagnoses or treatment plan is why I have put it in inverted commas. If she has a specific diagnosis and treatment plan I apologise but from what you have posted I suspect not

Even one of my young relatives who is studying medicine managed to get a part time job at weekends (in a bar so it's very sociable) and works really hard during vacations - yes, even structured around medical placements - and still enjoys a couple of exotic holidays !

Exactly, uni didn't spring up on you. She had at least a year or 2 to save up for this? And she could still get a job now?

Whilst I have some sympathy you are full of excuses. As a student many years ago (when student grants were still a thing) my parent finances were not in great shape and I was living in a tiny flat with my single parent mum. They couldn’t have afforded to support me through uni, instead I lived at home, got a small grant and worked 20-25 hours a week and commuted to the next town to university (rent was beyond finances without huge debt).
I have a stepson at university, he works to support himself through university (his mum is a low earner so he does get a full loan but still needs to work) he faces a lot of debt, we have committed to helping to repay that debt if need be. Unlike my kids his parents didn’t plan for the future.
My 2 children (from my first marriage) have had money saved from them since birth to provide a pot of money (not a lot £50pm but invested has grown to a very useful size, circa £20k each) this can be used to help through uni or whatever they decide upon, travelling, deposit towards a property etc. My 17 year old I have cajoled in to working as needs to learn hard working ethic, whilst initially reluctant with each working shift he’s learning new skills, dealing with co workers, difficult customers, etc life skills to build upon. I expect both mine to work through uni. With 3 children you should have planned for their future and if your daughter can’t sustain a part time job through uni and can only just manage to get herself there due to MH issues, i fear she may be one of those graduates who struggle to gain employment in the real world.
It is tough for middle earners I know, over the last 20 years I’ve been low earner, single parent, middle earner and higher earner it’s been quite a journey so understand all perspectives, but it’s also tough for low earners too. Bottom line is too many kids go to uni and the government cannot provide for all……if they do your taxes would be even higher. There is not a big money tree…

I have sympathy about the job bit and transport as I think we live in a similar kind of area. My DS has been trying to get a job since May. There are hardly any temporary jobs, and he is limited to where he can get to by bus ( hardly anywhere) The 'can't she drive?' post is hilarious. Putting aside the fact that there is a huge backlog of test availability, and not everyone passes the test, not every teen would have access to a car!!

But OP you lost me on the idea that the least wealthy are somehow better off. I see this trope a fair amount on MN. It's frankly ridiculous and its what limits my empathy. Your DD gets a certain amount. You top it up because the system says you can afford it. Everyone does, therefore get the same. It is unlikely to be the least affluent who then top things up further.... my DS will get his minimum lian, we top it up by paying accommodation. If he can then get a suitable job for more money that's up to him, otherwise he learns to manage on a tight budget and student overdrafts. This isn't all about patents paying. The students pay off their loans and overdrafts when financially stable. Again,I doubt it is the poorst who ever get bailed out by Bank of mum and dad.

It's really not unusual for new students to be advised not to work due to the 'intensity of the course'. It's in the Uni's interests, it's pretty standard! Doesn't mean much in the real world.

Well, how else do you suggest people get money if it working? AND pay for a degree and living costs?

You can’t have it both ways OP - you can’t have that your DD gets enough cash to not work through Uni but also that taxes shouldn’t go to subsidise poorer people

£500 a mth more than I ever received from my parents. The poorest aren't ok, OP. it's even harder for them.

Agreed.

We have a postgraduate scheme at work and I see it as a red flag if applicants didn’t work through Uni

Extra LOANS. Man are you naive.

Thinking more about the poor stretched middle and how they have it harder than actual poor people…

As I showed up thread, you can get bills all-in uni rooms for under £5K a year. 3 years, £15K.
I’d be very surprised if OP’s £80K+ household income couldn’t extend their mortgage to cover that.

Show me someone living the life on UC who has that back up option 🤷🏻‍♀️

But quite honestly, who didn't suffer with some sort of MH issues after covid? Seems like everyone did to some degree. She can still look for a job and work alongside university, but she needs to grow up now and start planning for herself. You want the loans to be based on treating them like adults so she needs to make decisions as an adult. You say you have other dc? So now that you know how hard it is, shouldn't you be encouraging them to plan ahead?

I do understand your frustrations with the system op but I'm not sure there's a simple solution. Full funding cannot just be handed out to everyone, as uni is expensive, and should be means tested. Your daughter could and should be working right now to help fund her future at university. I'm a manager at a supermarket, and we have lots of starters this year who are working lots of long hours, working hard, to put money aside for their first term at uni. There's always plenty of overtime, and sick/holiday cover that they are more than happy to snap up, as they're very keen to save as much as possible. I've just been filling out student transfer forms for a few of them as they will transfer to their local stores while at uni, and then will join us at our store again over Xmas and future holiday breaks to cover for the full time staff taking time off. They will do this and work all year round (like staff from previous years) throughout their uni days, to fund their education and lifestyle. I understand you're saying your daughter has has a tough time of it (as have many) but part time work now would be better to get her into a routine and prepare her for the long hours and sudden shock of an intense uni course, instead of having months, mulling around not doing very much. When my husband was at uni (appreciate the differences as this was 10 years ago) he worked 40 hour weeks at a restaurant alongside his very full time course to mainly pay for petrol, parking and uni materials! Very late nights at work (1/2am finishes), followed by all nighters to get uni projects finished was the norm. It shouldn't be a walk in the park, it's always going to be hard work unfortunately.

Bullshit. My other 2 have jobs. We don’t have holidays and have been cutting back hugely. Can’t do so anymore. Would have been able to cope just without the huge global issues we are seeing now.£500 a month is £18k per child overall. It was always going to be a struggle but the cost of living makes it impossible, we won’t be alone.

Plenty of young people go to Uni grappling with mental health and have to adjust life accordingly. She will cope but needs to be realistic.

Yes, I think if she had a diagnosis that it’d have appeared by now. OP is likely confusing unwillingness to get up and sort herself out with mental health issues. It’s not tenable to claim that she’s too unwell to work yet capable of leaving home to go to university to do a difficult degree.She sounds like one if the great many school leavers going to university for whom it’s not the right thing.

You do realise that these loans have to be paid back? It's not like they are just being given free money

When was the limit set?

If it was a while ago I’d agree with it matching changes since then but probably wouldn’t take away any limit