Students live below the poverty line

The Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureau (NIACAB) has revealed that students in the province live £38.22 below the poverty line each week.

NIACAB said the abolition of maintenance grants and the introduction of tuition fees had exacerbated the financial difficulties faced by students. This had resulted in a reduction of almost 10 per cent of adult learners undertaking higher education.

Derek Alcorn, NIACAB Chief Executive said: "The reality that students are forced to live below the poverty line has a detrimental impact not only on the lives of students and their families but also for the future health of the Northern Ireland economy."

Peter O'Neill, Manager of National Union of Students, Union of Students, Ireland (NUS-USI), added: "Over two years ago the Northern Ireland Assembly started to review student hardship and although some progress has been made, many students are still in poverty. We hope the new Minister, Carmel Hanna will restore grants to local students."

In a financial study carried out by CAB (Citizens Advice Bureaux) and NUS-USI the income and expenditure of a student in receipt of a full student loan and a single person in receipt of income support were compared.

The calculations show that the student is required to survive on less than a single person on income support, which is the minimum level deemed by law that a person can reasonably be expected to live on. Although in both cases expenditure is greater than income, the student incurs additional costs that are not faced by the single person on income support resulting in a greater weekly cash shortfall for the student.

In addition to the comparison of income and expenditure, income support claimants also have access to a social fund budgeting loan which allows them to borrow up to £1,000 interest free. Full-time students are excluded from this and must borrow from the high street credit industry with high street interest rates. Income support claimants are also entitled to housing benefit which is only available to a small minority of students.

(MB)