Living beyond our means, or just poverty?

[tinfoilhat 11]

23 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

In my area, student house shares are now in decline, due to a combination or poor standards of housing, and the fact that universities have seen what a cash cow student accommodation is - and they've built their own luxury halls for them, some including a 24 hour gym and pool, and decent communal facilities such as games rooms.  And they're not just for first years any more.

 

https://www.primestudentliving.com/assets/welcomepacks/Prime_Welcome_Pack_2018_Glassworks.pdf

Seen a fair bit of these on my travels. Some of the buildings are pretty big.

Edited January 10, 2019 by tinfoilhat

[Cyclone 10]

26 minutes ago, makapaka said:

There are other examples of decisions students make which cost more money than is actually necessary to obtain a degree.

 

im sure you could think of some if you try.

 

i haven’t visited them at home no - I know where they live and roughly how much they pay to live / travel there though.

 

Interesting point about saving money, they probably could, you're right.  But think about it like this;

Option A - don't save money.

Student debt is larger, will be written off at 55, size of debt doesn't alter the level of repayments.

 

Option B - save money.

Student debt is smaller, will still be written off at 55, size of debt doesn't alter the level of repayments.

 

75% of todays students are expected to have the debt written off at 55.

So unless you're very sure that you will be in that top 25% who will pay it off (which generally means family funding at uni, or an extremely well paid job) then there's absolutely no point in taking anything less than the maximum loan.

Now, you don't HAVE to spend that loan of course, but that's probably expecting a little too much of an 18 - 22 year old.

[Guest makapaka]

5 minutes ago, Cyclone said:

Interesting point about saving money, they probably could, you're right.  But think about it like this;

Option A - don't save money.

Student debt is larger, will be written off at 55, size of debt doesn't alter the level of repayments.

 

Option B - save money.

Student debt is smaller, will still be written off at 55, size of debt doesn't alter the level of repayments.

 

75% of todays students are expected to have the debt written off at 55.

So unless you're very sure that you will be in that top 25% who will pay it off (which generally means family funding at uni, or an extremely well paid job) then there's absolutely no point in taking anything less than the maximum loan.

Now, you don't HAVE to spend that loan of course, but that's probably expecting a little too much of an 18 - 22 year old.

Valid points save for the last one for me - i don’t think it’s expecting too much.

 

or at least it removes the validity of the complaint of being left with excess debt if you choose to spend it all.

[Cyclone 10]

Whether they save it or spend it, they'd be foolish to not take the maximum amount since it's most likely that they will never repay it all.

[Mister M 1,624]

An audit committee in the Commons is urging the Government to appoint a minister to tackle food insecurity. 

 

"The committee heard evidence that more than 2 million people in the UK were food insecure – meaning they struggled to eat regularly and healthily – with an estimated 19% of all under-15’s living with moderately or severely food insecure adults.

Nearly 2 million people in the UK may be undernourished, including up to a third of people admitted to hospital, up to 42% admitted to care homes and a fifth of those received into mental health units, the committee says."

"Benefit delays and sanctions related to universal credit are highlighted by the committee as key drivers of hunger alongside cuts to social care. Food bank use has increased by 52% in areas where universal credit has been rolled out for longer than 12 months, its report says"

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/10/appoint-minister-for-hunger-to-tackle-uk-food-insecurity-mps-urge