Inflation has affected all corners of society to some degree. But few groups have been hit quite as hard as students – a demographic that, for the second year in a row, has seen its living costs rise at well above the national average rate of inflation.
This is to be expected. It is widely acknowledged that lower income households experience a higher-than-average rate of inflation, as they spend a greater proportion of their income on the goods and services that see the biggest increases in cost.
Around the UK, the maintenance loan has, to varying degrees, always tended to fall short of living costs. Indeed, Save the Student’s National Student Money Surveys have consistently found the shortfall to be at least £200 per month.
But over the past few years, this gap has more than doubled, from £223 per month in 2020, to a startling £582 per month in 2023. Coupled with rising rents, students are now left with 50p per week after paying for their accommodation.
