We are forced to borrow money from the Student Loan Scheme in order to survive. Even when we get that $150 for living costs (that we have to pay back) that is still not enough to live on!
The following table details the average cost of living expenses, revealed in the TNS Income and Expenditure Survey (2004)
Expenses - Weekly Average
Food - $61
Local Transport - $32
Accommodation - $116
Entertainment - $36
Living expenses - $40
Personal items - $17
General bill - $38
Misc - $30
Childcare costs - $59
Not only that but the number of students who receive student allowances is decreasing...
"Between 1990 and 2001, the proportion of full-time students receiving
an allowance fell from 85.4% to 36.7%. By 2004, the proportion of
full-time students receiving an allowance had dropped to 29%."
In 2001, 70,231 student received allowances
In 2002, 68,869 student received allowances
In 2003, 64,036 student received allowances
In 2004, 60,826 student received allowances
In 2005, 56,806 student received allowances
Until 1992, 86.4% of students received a living allowance or a grant while they were studying.
In 1989, the fourth Labour Government introduced the Youth and Student
Allowances Scheme. An element of means testing was implemented for students under 20 years.
National promised to get rid of the parental means test during the 1990 election but once they took office they extended parental
means testing for those under 20 to those under 25
During the 1996 election Labour promised a universal student living allowance but have never delivered on it.
In a Salient interview in September 2003 (Issue 22), Prime Minister Helen Clark was quoted as saying:
“When I was a student, I don’t recall people working at night or at the weekend for paid work. We had a universal allowance. I was a student from out of town, so I had a boarding allowance as well. We were expected to work over the summer holidays. I think if one can avoid working part-time through the year, it’s desirable because you really need time to put into your course.”
(quote and data taken from nzusa.org.nz)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment