Student Food Poverty: What Universities Can Do to Support Students
On 6 September 2023, Save the Student published the results of the National Student Money Survey 2023, and the results are immensely worrying.
Among the survey’s findings are two that stand out as representative of the consistent failures of the government to effectively support students through the cost of living crisis:
18% of surveyed students said they had used a food bank in the last academic year, which has nearly doubled since 2022, when 10% had said the same.
64% said they skip meals at least some of the time to save money. Broken down, this includes 22% who said they often skip meals, while a further 42% sometimes do.
What makes these findings particularly upsetting is that they should be described as “alarming”, but the truth is the alarm bells have been ringing for years.
It was alarming in the 2020 survey when the average student’s Maintenance Loan fell short of covering their living costs by £223 per month.
It was alarming in 2021 when the shortfall grew to £340 per month.
It was alarming, again, in 2022 when the shortfall grew further to £439 per month. We knew then that a 2.3% increase in Maintenance Loans in England for 2022/23 would not be nearly enough, and we are seeing the results of that now.
Following on from years of insufficient increases to Maintenance Loans, despite the rocketing cost of living, the shortfall is now an eye-watering £582 per month.
Surveyed students spend an average of £1,078 per month - a 17% increase since the 2022 survey. Based on this, Save the Student’s calculations indicate that the average student’s Maintenance Loan now covers less than half (46%) of their overall monthly spend.
One student in the survey said:
“Maintenance loans, even the maximum, are not enough to live on anymore. Once rent was paid, I had barely any money to cover my living costs, including food, and this severely impacted my social life and mental health.”
Another student said:
“I am really good with budgeting so I make sure I stick to a very rigid weekly allowance so as to make sure I have enough money to last me the year, but I have friends who have less support than I do and have gone weeks without buying food shopping, fainting in uni because [they’re] not eating enough and uni lecturers having to give people money to buy some groceries because they simply don’t have the money to pay for any.”
How is maintenance support changing in 2023/24?
In most of the UK, we are seeing more significant increases in maintenance support in 2023/24 to account for rising costs:
In Northern Ireland, maximum Maintenance Loans are increasing by 40%.
In Wales, maintenance support is increasing by 9.4%.
And, in Scotland, financial support is rising by £900, which is an increase of between 11.1% and 17.6% depending on the student's household income.
In England, however, Maintenance Loans are increasing by just 2.8% in 2023/24, despite pleas from many organisations in the Higher Education sphere, including Save the Student, to increase them further.
There have been warning signs for years, but the English government seems to have consistently ignored, and continues to ignore, the extent of the issue.
Save the Student's Communications Director, Tom Allingham, said:
“This is the most troubling set of results we've ever seen in the National Student Money Survey.
“It's clear from these findings that students have been hit particularly hard by the cost of living crisis, experiencing a rate of inflation of up to 17%.
“And, while Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have all tried to ensure funding keeps pace with costs, England has not. As a result, the average Maintenance Loan now falls short of living costs by £582 per month, or almost £7,000 per year.
“This is a dereliction of duty from the government, plunging huge swathes of students into food poverty. Around two-thirds are skipping meals at least some of the time, and 18% used a food bank in 2022/23 – close to double the figure from the previous year.
“Clearly, the problem is getting worse, not better, and the government urgently needs to do more. The £276 million of 'hardship funding' supplied through the Office for Students is actually less than pre-pandemic levels, and it's barely scratching the surface.
“Save the Student is calling on the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, to increase the Maintenance Loan to catch up with inflation, and avoid driving thousands more students into financial turmoil.”
What universities can do to support students
With the insufficient maintenance funding, the pressure is growing on universities - particularly those in England - to step in to support students through this challenging situation.
There are some brilliant student money advisers at universities across the UK who work hard to support students. For those looking for more ways to help, here are some suggestions based on the survey’s findings:
1.Set up free food initiatives
For universities that are not yet routinely offering students free food, but that have the resources to do so, this is one very effective way to help.
It could be a case of running free breakfast or lunch events for students, or even giving out free hot drinks and snacks around campus.
However much free food a university is able to provide will help.
Some students report feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable about going to food banks, which can make a difficult situation harder. So, any free-food initiatives that a university does set up should focus on being open and welcoming to any students and staff who need them.
2. Ensure it is as easy as possible for students to get advice
In the survey, 53% of those that had asked their university for financial support said that it wasn’t easy to do so.
This is an improvement on last year, when 63% had said the same, but there’s still a long way to go.
It’s essential that students have a clear idea of what support is available to them, along with the steps they need to take to access that support.
Hardship funding is a key way to help students who are struggling financially. However, money worries can impact a range of aspects of a student’s life, which hardship funding alone may not fully help with.
When surveyed students were asked what aspects of life were impacted by money worries, these were the three most commons answers:
Diet (49%)
Mental health (55%)
Social life (62%)
As such, alongside hardship funding, some may also be looking for support with their mental health, wellbeing, relationships and more.
Ultimately, when supporting students with money issues, it’s important to recognise that a financial problem such as a struggle to afford food could be one part of a complex overall situation.
3. Make campus shops accessible to students with cash
Some UK universities have cashless campuses, which is understandable as it is safer and faster.
However, one issue is that hospitality and retail are very popular industries for students to work in part time. For students who earn tips in cash, a cashless campus creates a barrier to those who want to buy food and drink with the coins and notes they have earned at work.
If it’s not a possibility to allow cash payments, universities should be mindful that some students will be keen to spend in cash. For these students, alternative arrangements, or at the very least a signposting of where students can spend cash nearby, could help.
4. Share resources to help students manage food costs
Alongside the above points, many students will be looking for resources to help them manage their living costs on a day-to-day basis.
Among the students surveyed in the National Student Money Survey 2023, around two thirds (64%) said they wish they had received better financial education at school. As well as this, 13% don’t follow a budget.
One student in the survey said:
“I have never met a single student who knew exactly how to budget when they first arrived at university. It is my strong belief that these things should be taught to us at school.”
Save the Student, as an example, has a range of free online resources to help students manage their budget, including a budgeting spreadsheet, a meal plan and a student money cheat sheet which universities are welcome to share with their students.
Alternatively, university support services could consider creating resources tailored to their student population. These could be focused on how to manage money in the local area, such as the best places for free and discounted food.
Find out more in the full report of the National Student Money Survey 2023.
About the author
Laura Brown is Co-Head of Editorial at Save the Student, the UK’s leading student money website. She has worked at Save the Student for over three years and now oversees the site’s editorial department. She project manages Save the Student’s annual student surveys, including the influential National Student Money Survey and the National Student Accommodation Survey.
