University students are unhappy at home but too poor to move out, according to new research.
The news comes after Theresa May this week spoke of her Conservative government’s long-awaited major review of higher education funding in England.
UNiDAYS’ survey of 1,900 students from its database in February 2017, says 43% are living at home with 39% saying it’s due to being unable to afford the cost of moving out.
Nearly one million students (980,000) out of the UK student population of 2.28million (according to Universities UK) are forced to live at home and are losing out on friendships and independence.
Of those at home, 59% say they’re missing out on independence, 46% have the inability to form new friendships and 15% are unable to find love, all groups saying that they have a worse quality of life compared to those who have flown the nest.
When students do indeed stay at home whilst studying it costs parents massively. A recent study by banking firm Aldermore found that those over 18 living at home increase parents’ outgoings by £4,996 a year, which over a three-year period at university adds up to almost £15,000.
Hollie Bidwell, a student at the University of Nottingham said: “The decision for me to stay at home whilst I complete my studies made sense.
“With the substantial cost of tuition, I didn’t want to have to take on increased debt to fund my living expenses whilst at university, hence my choice to stay closer to home to study.
“Luckily, I have very supportive parents.”
Mai Fenton, marketing director at UNiDAYS, commented on the cost it has for students.
“It’s no surprise, with the rising cost of living and staggering tuition fees, that many students are just unable to afford the cost of living away from home whilst at university,” she said.
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Image courtesy of Filip Pticek via Flickr, with thanks.
