Living at home - Sunday Times article

[boys3]

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/stay-at-home-university-student-rise-w2qwxz7d5

Hope this has shared properly. Not a seismic shift but direction of travel seems clear. The regional map is interesting. Though also worth pointing out that there has always been some significant variances for various unis as compared with the overall figure.

Times article based on UCAS data - living location intention,

First year in halls and then back home is pretty common in London. A chance to develop friendships, but avoid the second year grotty flat. It also means that the young person has learnt that the magic cleaning/washing/tidying up/cooking person is real and that they need to pull their weight.

If they did not return home for the second year they often did for the third. As well as saving money they could get the quiet and space they needed for finals and job applications.

I met a student on a train yesterday who commuted to University in London from the South Coast, roughly a two hour journey. He lived in London for his first year and then went up three times a week when he needed to be there in person. Less social life but in this uncertain job market a good degree was the priority. As well as saving money.

Covid, the job market, escalating rents and the better availability of on-line lectures.

I think those who faced Covid in crucial pre and early adulthood had their social attitudes changed. Less FOMO, because they did miss out and survived, and a willing to accept on line interaction in place of in person. Some good things. Drug use when DD started University pre-covid was through the roof. Some bad.

I glanced at some click bait headline yesterday which suggested today's young people are having less sex.

Cause or effect. Living at home = less sex, or less sex = less reluctance to live at home.

I would never have wanted to stay home for Uni. For one thing, the closest unis were crap (old polys) and the nearest good one would have been horrendous to get to as I lived in a village with limited public transport and didn't drive at the time.

That aside though I would have hated to miss out on the whole halls and house share experience, the independence of having to fend for yourself, the ability to go out until all hours, be literally right there on or close to campus.

Anyone who thinks living at home doesn't diminish the uni experience is frankly deluded.

Looking at the quoted rents in that article, I can understand why students might decide to stay at home (and their parents would probably be relieved)! We are fortunate to live in a big city with several universities and if DC decided to stay home, it would certainly be much easier on our finances. We will have two going to uni at the same time, their rents alone will be several times more than the mortgage on our house. And they'd only be eligible for the lowest amount of loan too so we would have to basically fund everything.

Less than 1% of school students in Scotland go to boarding school, so hardly many. As you acknowledge your point re land mass is true, in fact, 70% of the population is in the central belt.

It is still the case that significantly more Scottish students stay at home, than in the rest of the UK.

Specific examples don't negate a general trend.

The graduate job market is dire and with AI and changes in immigration law, only likely to get worse. It is no longer justifiable to go to University for the experience., You go to get the best degree possible.

Staying in London is often the best outcome for London students. First "the University experience" in smaller places for kids who were travelling around the city on their own from the age of 11 was not always what it was made out to be. Second there are plenty of top rated Universities and some really fantastic out of University opportunities. Perfectly possible to have a good life with University friends you met in first year halls or through a University Society or through your course, and also retain teenage friends who also remained in London and continue to play with your old sports club or music group. All the while saving money. London kids often commute some way to school so commuting to University is not very different.

A major factor will be fees. Same is true of Northern Ireland.

That’s part of it, but historically, even in the days of free tuition and grants it was also the case.

Dd and I recently discussed this. She stayed at home and is still at home doing her masters. We would have supported her going away to university happily and I did worry that she would regret not going.

She claims she doesn’t regret it a bit. She loved the course at the university close to us and she did have a placement year abroad which she loved but staying at home and working part time has meant she has been able to have a car and to have quite a few great holidays whilst coming and going as suits her and even having her ironing done if I am feeling particularly generous!

It might help I suppose that she doesn’t drink and would not be in any way inclined to bring random men home with her as someone earlier suggested so didn’t feel she was missing out on that. We have however hosted several friends from her year abroad from far flung locations.

I imagine she will probably go abroad if possible after her masters and I don’t see that staying home would hinder that in any way.

Ds goes this year and he will be very far as his degree is not offered near us. He would love to stay at home!

Living at home with parents can be enjoyable, and the idea that it’s not is often based on flawed assumptions. Most social activities happen outside the house, so having parents around isn’t necessarily a problem. Taking financial risks solely for the sake of intimacy doesn’t seem like a valid reason. University typically lasts only 3 to 5 years, during which students can focus on working and possibly having a relationship or wait until after graduation to explore relationships while earning money. Whether living at home or renting, they can find ways to secure privacy or use their partner’s space without extra expenses.

I didn’t use ChatGPT; I used Copilot, which helps correct texts because of my dyslexia. Also, my first comment wasn’t written by AI. If it seems like it was, it just shows that AI has surpassed humans by miles, whether they have a university degree or not, or live at home with parents or not.

Gosh, we're in very different places on this one. I don't think there's a wrong or a right - every YP has different needs and wants - but I think I'd still argue that leaving home for uni enables a young person to do absolutely anything they want (e.g. dumping existing schooldays boyfriend, or coming out, or living in a bit of a tip and learning to negotiate domestic issues) and thus grow into a fully independent adult before they get their first 'proper' job. (And no-one knows what their DCs are actually doing and thinking unless you spy on their phones: parents only get an edited version, surely?)

DD wants a London university and is planning on living at home and commuting.

She's used to London, so there will be no sudden experiencing the bright lights and she's been very independent in terms of travel and freedom since she was 11.

I have asked if she's sure she won't want the opportunity to have a flat with friends or live in halls and she looked at me as if I had two heads.

Plans to just take the fees loan, and no maintenance, and says living away from home can wait till she's graduated and earning.

Given she's ADHD and executive function is rather challenged, I think she's making the sensible choice.