dc with savings - should they be expected to use those funds for living expenses at Uni

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If your dc having savings (say £10,000 or so) should they be expected to use some/all of it to contribute to their rent/living expenses during their Uni years ?

If so, and 1 child has more savings than their sibling(s) are they expected to use more ? (Accumulated extra savings due to having to take a gap year and reapply, grades in hand, but worked full time paying a modest rent whilst living at home).

As the parents, we do have savings but these are being rapidly depleted (for reasons other than funding dc at Uni) and will run out before all dc are through Uni.

Posting as a parent who came out of Uni with just an overdraft of less than £1,000 because I am old (no tuition fees to pay in my day) plus I worked in term time and also had a full on holiday job every summer in my home town too.

I would say look at your Family circumstances and make a rule that is applied to all DC

A bit mean for the DC who has saved to not have as much financial support as the DC who spent their money and now gets given more.
They need treating the same, regardless of how much they each have in savings.

Did the DC save it themselves?

Or was this you putting money away for them since they were small?

Ok so ds had child trust fund which he put half in an isa and then bought a car. He used his savings from work done during a level s to supplement his living expenses at uni, we also give him a weekly allowance. He also works while at uni.

Hmmmm. I guess that the parental contribution should be equal between all dc (if you are able).

The difference in savings means that one dc will have an easier time financially at uni, the other will need to work (as has their sibling surfing the gap year) if they want the extras.

If there is a gap between what loan they get/parental contribution and their accomodation/living expenses then they'll need to fund that themselves. By spending their savings or getting a job around their studies.

*I also went to uni pre-loans and course fees AND I got a grant, the costs these days are truly terrifying.

I would think it incredibly harsh to in effect penalise one child for working and saving by then providing the other with more. You’re essentially saying they needn’t have bothered and could have frittered it away.

I completely understand you can’t magic money up but I would try and do something that is equitable.

Where did their savings come from? If the thousands they now have are the result of relatives contributing every birthday and Christmas like some children have then it would be very unfair to expect them to spend it on basic living expenses.

I think you can reasonably expect them to get jobs to help themselves through uni, and it would be fair to make them use their savings for driving lessons or if they choose to do a postgraduate qualification, but the basic uni years are something parents should be expected to contribute to.

I agree entirely.

DS has savings of around that amount. They are made up of money he has either been given for birthdays etc (the minority) and the vast majority from working his arse off at a well paid job last year.

We do not make him use his savings for uni living expenses. We said we will cover the basics and give him a decent weekly allowance. He does not have to work in term time but will probably work this summer. Next year his uni expenses will be higher but we will aim to still cover the basics. We are fortunate to be able to do this as we overpaid the mortgage for years to enable it to be paid off just before he went to uni. I realise this is a fortunate position.

Our situation is different as we also have other DC who have not gone to uni but have supported them in different ways.

They both get the same amount (X) each towards uni, paid yearly/termly/monthly, whatever works for you. This must be something you can actually afford.

The difference between X and their costs at uni (Y) has to be made up by them. This is via the maintenance loan (L) and their own money (M).

M can come from savings or from term time work, or both. That's up to them.

I think I would treat them all the same

I would give all dc the same amount of support.

Our DC haven't actually touched their savings yet as they are quite frugal.

Mine all had savings ,mainly comprised of generous birthday gifts
I didn’t make them use for living eo
We fully funded/ are funding Uni
No loans and no term time working

I think it would cause resentment if the child who saved up and worked therefore got less than his siblings.

I would work out what you can afford (not all of your savings, that's not a good idea) and offer equal support to all children. Make them aware of what this will be.

And then it's up to them how they fund uni, whether by working or taking a gap year, or making cheaper choices about accommodation etc.

I only have the one DD so it is less complex but still not simple. We saved into her CTF which could pay for her Uni fees. The CTF became hers on her 18th birthday. She is also going to work over the summer. Her summer job money is understood to be the ‘fun money’ for Uni. She didn’t have to work but has chosen to.

As a good proportion of parents whose DCs give their students the full loan for living costs and pay the accommodation, we’d potentially just have to pay the living costs out of income and not giving her the student loan amount as she would already have paid the fees element. We have given her the choice of taking out a student loan or using what is her money. Lots of debates have taken place re of funding Masters, deposit for home etc - but all good conversations to have as they need to understand the choices they have and the pros and cons. We are probably going to go against the Martin Lewis advice and be optimistic that DD will earn enough to make not taking out the loan the right decision.

We know we are in a very privileged position but there were some years when DD was little and DH was out of work I really struggled to fund the CTF but so glad I did make the sacrifices now.

Feels unfair on the DC who took a gap year if others get more. Why can't they all take a gap year and work?

It sounds like the gap year wasn't planned? (But I was going to ask the same thing wrt the others also taking time out to save up, especially if the OP envisages her finances becoming more stretched anyway).

Once you've paid your parental top up to the equivalent of max student loan, do they need that much more? Maybe it could then be their choice - get a pt job, use savings, or economise.

Sorry to post and run. One of our cats had "emptied his bowels" in various locations around the house. A dietary issue I thought we'd got in hand has clearly flared up again ! I was shattered by bedtime with all the cleaning and soaking.

I want to be fair to all the dc but we've gone from a dual income family to a single income and that will not change. I had planned to let the dc take tuition loans but for us to pay accomodation and a small weekly allowance to cover food/toiletries/the occasional train fare etc leaving them to top up from savings and part time job.. This would then leave them to make the decision regarding their lifestyle whilst at Uni and how to fund it.

So...
walk/bus/uber - their choice and responsibility for costs accordingly

cooking cheaply+taking sandwiches/more expensive food option/lots of takeways and eating out - their choice and responsibility for costs accordingly

replacing clothes+shoes on a needs basis/treating themselves to new stuff occasionally/constant upgrading of wardrobe - their choice and responsibility for costs accordingly

occasional night out/modest social life/full on social life - their choice and responsibility for costs accordingly

holidays/festivals/big ticket events (£££'s) - up to them. I worked pretty much all of my summer holidays which is why I graduated with so little debt but I wished I had played harder at Uni...

Due to the change in financial circumstances, the best I can realistically and prudently budget for now is £100 /week in term time (so a contribution towards rent/food) with the dc getting minimum maintenance loans to pay the bulk of their rent cost and working approx 10hrs a week. I have the funds to pay more at present but know it can't be sustained at that level if there's to be enough to fund all dc the same.

Are my choices/funding criteria listed above too harsh though ?

I think as long as you are topping up to the amount you are supposed to (there's a calculator on mse if you need it) then that's fair enough really... the rest is on them ... including choice of uni. Some are a lot more expensive than others. Studying from home may also have to be considered.
You can have your income reassessed for student loan application if it's gone down significantly. Some unis offer decent bursaries as well, even for students whose parents earn over £25k

Hope cat is ok.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loan-parental-contribution-tool/

That's the calculator if you need it. You then need to decide whether to pay weekly, termly etc, maybe as you say they work during the holidays so pay more in term time then nothing in holidays?

We have saving accounts for our DDs which we set up so they had money for living expenses at university. (As part of parental contribution).

Any money they earn themselves would be on top of this.

We paid for basics and our child was expected to use savings (largely from our past gifts) or work to fund things like holidays with friends and expensive nights out.

Make sure you apply for their funding to be based on your current income if there is has been a big drop.

You shouldnt penalise one who has worked and saved.

Sadly, my "soon to be ex" and I are no longer on the same page with regards funding the dc at Uni. Our combined income levels will mean that dc only qualify for minimum loan level but hell will freeze over before they get anything from one of their parents because that parent believes the children should self-fund out of their own savings.

Believe me, "cat shat on the mat(s)" scenarios are not the most stressful issues in my life at present .

An alternative may be to look into paid degree apprenticeships.

I think you as parents should pay whatever expected parental contribution is due for each child, which will obviously depend on your household income.

The rest should be made up of student loan/savings/earnings as per the student's preference.