Like most things, there are a variety of experiences. Any individual poster, thinking about the people they know and their own experiences, has a narrow picture and on the basis of that, should t assume they know what all or most do. It is anecdata. And often, whilst individual universities or communities at home might have broadly similar funding experiences, we should remember that university communities can have different demographics and local communities that send kids to uni can have different demographics.
Without doubt, most students are not fully self-supporting beyond their loans and most have a level of family support. That varies from parents paying for everything and there being no loans, to just the odd shop that is bought for them. But most are also giving weekly or monthly or termly funds of varying amounts too.
Access to higher education has broadened, but still less than half of the population go and those from more affluent backgrounds are more likely to go. Many students are from middle class backgrounds, where parents to different degrees have expected to contribute and have been gearing up to that and then do. It is not unusual - and although those students who get parental support are clearly fortunate, they are not unusual in the broader university population. The funding system, based upon parental income, explicitly states that there is an expectation that parents of kids who don’t receive full loans are expected to provide support. And most do, to differing degrees.
It will be the case, that there are groups in society that are increasingly sending their kids to uni, who might not have in the past. Aspiration is high amongst parents and students in some groups which is wonderful. Within some of these groups, parents won’t have the expectation to financially support their kids or won’t have the means. In some communities, teens won’t have the expectation of any family support because that will be the norm amongst their community. And if at uni, people herd together with those from similar backgrounds, it can seem that the experience is the norm, or more widespread than it actually is.
There are wide variations in term time work according to uni. In some unis, most students do work in term time and in others, v few do. Students who lack parental financial support and who work, might feel like a minority at some universities, and totally normal in others.
Of course it’s the case that those with lots of financial support are fortunate. But given that the university population has a higher proportion of kids from affluent backgrounds, they are also not unusual.
Some students might be studying for 60+ hours and also doing lots of hours paid work. Most will be studying for less than this and most who work will be doing a few hours a week.
As has been said upthread, for some students and their families, the idea of student debt and fears of not having enough money are massive barriers to going to uni. Others going feel insecure about their studies and finances and study more than they need and work more paid hours than they need to deal with their insecurities - and for some, this culture of just needing to do more of everything is very real.
I think the disagreements on this thread reflect different cultures and attitudes towards education and funding. Some people are unable to see beyond a very narrow and perhaps not typical experience that they’ve had and struggle to recognise the experience of the majority might be different. But a good number do struggle financially and are willing to study and work paid hours which are not the norm and which show an admirable work ethic, in order to open doors for their futures.