Despite the stereotypes of university students living in ivory towers, they’re affected by the cost of living crisis like everyone else. New polling from the Sutton Trust last week showed that 63% of students are spending less on food and other essentials, while a full third of working-class students have skipped meals.
Getting help from parents was high up the list of coping strategies, which probably isn’t news to those of you with children. But 27% of students also reported having got a job or increased their working hours. Obviously financial pressures are bad, but the survey prompted a wider reflection because an increase in students working would actually be bucking the trend of recent decades.
Our own research shows the longer-term trend is less earning while learning. The employment rate of 18-to-19-year-olds studying for degrees fell by 25% between 2001 and 2018. We don’t discuss much whether we think this is a good or bad thing, even amid the current panic about rising levels of labour market inactivity.
Generally, I lean towards it being good for the youth to do some paid work early (obviously not to an extreme where it will affect their education). They get to meet the real world in all its glamour – in my case a pub’s dishwasher and sink. And it leads to better wages and employability later in life. A new study highlights that students who work during term feel as though they have greater control of their lives – an important non-cognitive skill associated with better education and labour market outcomes.
We don’t want a cost of living crisis forcing students to work, but should ponder whether there are more positive ways that firms and the government can support people to earn while they learn.
• Torsten Bell is chief executive of the Resolution Foundation. Read more at resolutionfoundation.org
