to think that £500 a month is enough for a child at uni

[FunnysInLaJardin]

we will pay his accommodation and his tuition fees will be paid, so this will just be for food and travel etc

I'll be doing the same for DD. It's good for them.

What would you give your daughter if she was going to university in September?

I agree working is good for them if at all possible, given study constraints, but I literally cannot imagine denying DS or DD the money for a warm jumper in this weather, when I have one myself! As it is, he buys all his clothes from Vinted and DD buys hers from H and M.

@user746016 It wasn't decades ago.

I agree with helping your children at uni if they need it. But not instead of them getting a job, it's too easy to give them hundreds of pounds a month, every month, and they will grow not to appreciate it. They are adults at university. If you want (more) money you get a job.

It’s disingenuous to say things haven’t changed. What were rent payments like when you were at uni? What were food costs like?

Was your degree free?

Things have changed hugely in the past 10 years.

So has the job market. There are very few part time jobs for students that will let you work weekends only. Most want some weekday shifts as well. And they won't hold it for you if you want to go home over the holidays. They are inflexible around exam time. And most pay very poorly anyway.

I think most students are willing to work at some point. But to expect them to earn enough on a reliable basis to cover all their costs is not on. If you can help your kids then why wouldn't you?

And the rise in zero hours contracts is huge over the past 10 years, meaning a lot of student jobs don’t guarantee an income/hours.

it's too easy to give them hundreds of pounds a month, every month, and they will grow not to appreviate ot

that’s quite the generalisation there and I’ve never found it to be true.

I understand. My children are all much older and it’s my eldest grandchild going to Uni this year. What we did with our children is what her parents are doing with her.

I want him to be able to have a good quality varied diet and not live in junk because that is all he can afford

You are quite naive if you think healthy wholesome foods will be the priority on any budget.

I hope you don't mean you're giving him that? He should be working outside of university

Going into second year my DD had to start paying rent on her student house in July despite term not starting until end of September. Something to bear in mind when calculating annual costs.

2nd year uni student parent. Far from home and doing his best.

l give my son £50 per week and I send him a food / toiletries / cleaning bits shopping delivery every other week. Around £40 each time.

He still calls up needing money because such and such is going to blah blah. He also rings his relatives haha.

He has a few hundred left after paying his rent with his maintenance loan. Weekend only work is quite tough to get. Especially in a uni town. He is doing well with his studies is grateful for the help and polite. When he comes home he helps out around the house and does agency work shifts so I don’t mind helping as he needs during semester time.

We send £100 a week, DD gets £6000 maintenance loan but her accommodation is over £8000. She worked all summer and paid her first accommodation from that which was £1900 hopefully she will have enough to get her to May!

That's more than enough for all his mates to be fake hangers on to the spoiled rich kid. I work at a uni and although it is far from universal and character plays a huge part in it very often spoiled kids are not well thought of. It's amazing to me how many parents can become wealthy and yet have so little understanding of money.

£16 a day to live on is “spoiled rich kid”? Ok

Wow. That seems like loads.
It has been a while since I graduated but I got £4000 a year student loan.
My rent was £45 a week which I had to pay for out of that £4000.

Blimey £45 a week! Most places are £150+ a week these days.

Cozzy livs eh.

And of course the problem is the student loans haven’t kept pace. The maximum if parents are low wage is under £10k and the maximum for others is £4.5k.

£4.5k student loan, £150+ a week rent = not the same!!

This is more than enough!

Apparently!😂I am going to show this thread to DS and ask him if he can treat his entourage with the £16 per day he gets in London, where one sandwich can cost £10. ( Of course, he makes his sandwiches at home using the toastie maker I got him).

My dd doesn't have any maintenance loans. We give her £600 a month and she also does some teaching and works in the holidays. She thinks her costs, including accommodation, come to about £10,000 a year.

Just to add, it is actually hard going on parents but I didn't want my daughter to leave with any debt other than tuition fees. My parents did not help me sufficiently at University, and their income was such that I didn't qualify for maintenance grants. So, it was all a struggle. I didn't want that for my daughter.

My rent was £45 a week which I had to pay for out of that £4000.

Wow, you were living like a king compared to today's students then.

It’s about right if you can afford it and are happy to pay it.

It’s about £16 a day which will make his life comfortable. Some will get more and some will get less.