Supporting Students in the Cost-of-Living Crisis
At the start of 2022, Blackbullion found that, for UK university students, the snow-balling cost-of- living crisis was fast becoming their number one concern. Our Student Money & Wellbeing 2022 report showed that 72% of students were worried about it - more than the impact of Covid on their financial futures.
Fast forward a year and inflation stories have moved from the business pages to the front page. From rent to energy costs to food bills, the cost-of-living crisis has become a marker for our times -affecting all of us.
For students, with fixed budgets that were already falling short of what they need to complete their studies, the impact is heightened. Figures from the Student Loans Company published in September showed that almost 40,000 students in the UK permanently withdrew from their university courses. And while we have examples like the Russell Group increasing support for students by boosting hardship funds, subsidising energy bills as well as providing free period products, what more can be done on a day-to-day basis to support students?
1. Start by de-stigmatising help
There’s undoubtedly still a stigma around financial support. With over 150,000 students accessing our financial wellbeing and funding platform, we see how many students try to manage without asking for help. There’s also a hesitance to engage with specific support available such as food banks.
Finances are often emotionally loaded. A huge challenge for Blackbullion when we launched was that desire to break down the barriers when it comes to talking about money. By destigmatising money, we remove blocks such as shame, embarrassment, failure, and encourage more students to seek the help they need.
Engaging with financial education is one step towards opening up the topic of finances.
2. Now’s the time to normalise financial support
There’s an opportunity to go further here. Macro-economic conditions beyond our control means we’re all financially impacted. As a founder and optimistic by nature, I also see this as an opportunity to tackle the persistent stigma and perceived negativity of financial support.
Today’s students, living through their first recession and financial crisis need to know this: they don’t have to struggle with money alone.
Support is available. The reality is many will have had to find out the hard way - out of necessity rather than a fall-back plan. For universities this means ramping up communications and making it easy for students to navigate financial support. And in so doing, help to alleviate residual preconceptions around financial support.
3. Provide vouchers instead of food
In our work with universities, student support teams have reported that students feel more comfortable accepting help in the form of a voucher, as opposed to directly from a food bank. Again, we see the preconceived barriers around food bank support that prevents students from using them. It’s understandable that students will feel more in control making food choices in this way.
One example is Aldi’s orange voucher scheme, which has restrictions around use ensuring just food is purchased.
Do be aware, especially as a multiple campus institution, some vouchers will accrue additional travel costs. Again this can be overcome effectively: Leeds Trinity University offers a free shuttle bus to a local shopping park. Elsewhere, the University of Staffordshire Students’ Union has developed a food hub service that their students feel comfortable using, on their terms.
4. Community creates connection
We know that financial worries can create feelings of disconnection and isolation - that go deeper than missing a social event because of money. Our 2022 report found that 75% of students actively worry about finances, with 57% of those saying this negatively impacts their mental health.
For universities and colleges, particularly in post-Covid time, this means building real community among their students. Encourage honest conversations, create peer support networks where students feel safe discussing money worries. Minimise feelings of isolation by demystifying the complexities around money matters. We’ve loved seeing how Nottingham Trent University has successfully implemented a series of workshops to this end.
Bringing students together in this way also offers staff a channel to increase awareness of the financial help that’s out there, offering guideposts and resources to better manage the cost of living crisis.
5. Manage financial expectations
This year, our university and college partners have seen a worrying trend emerge as students arrive on campus less financially prepared than ever. This has huge impacts on financial wellbeing as students underestimate the baseline cost-of-living needed to cover accommodation, food, travel before you go any further. Soaring inflation has created another level of urgency to this.
The best way to help students be financially prepared for university is to manage expectations. Break down costs, get granular and transparent to avoid a pattern of budget shortfalls before students have even started.
Building financial education into your student recruitment communications will promote an understanding of the financial realities in a supportive and constructive way. It can additionally position your commitment to financial wellbeing as part of your strategy.
6. Make sure you tailor support for international students
Think about how you can better supporting international students too. The reality is many are not being effectively informed as to the impact of inflation on their experience.
The official recommendations as to how much money an international student in the UK will need suggests an increase of 1% this year. However, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) saw a 9.3% increase in the 12 months to November 2022. We need to close this gap on understanding, for prospective international students.
7. Improve access to hardship funding
There’s still a huge amount of work to be done around financial inclusion and funding. A priority for 2023 will be shifting the conversation around hardship funding. Not least that students either don’t think hardship funding is for them, or that they’re eligible, so don’t bother applying at all.
There’s an opportunity for increased communication from universities and colleges to clearly explain the application process and eligibility criteria for hardship and other additional funding.
For example, the University of Reading is currently working with their SU on myth-busting the misconceptions about applying for hardship funding to address some of the perceived barriers they’ve heard about from students.
And Blackbullion’s Funds Management System (FMS) was designed to make it easy and fast for students to discover and apply for eligible funds, opening up access. In just two years, our FMS has awarded over £12 million of funds to students. And in 2023 we are going even further by providing an end-to-end solution for companies and other organisations to create funds of their own.
In no way am I looking to sugar-coat the very real impact of the cost-of-living crisis on students. And while big political moves are imperative - to support the NUS in their lobbying of the government as well as a longer term review of the distributed nature of student funding - small things create a big impact.
In conclusion, I’d urge you to look to improve the areas you can act on today. For example, a simple scheme like ‘40p beans on toast’ (as launched by the University of York) can be the difference between a student eating - or not. It’s these small shifts that will support students in this time - delivering a better student experience and helping them reclaim their financial futures.
About the author
Vivi Friedgut is the founder and CEO of Blackbullion, the financial wellbeing platform that’s equipping young people with money skills for life and improving access to funds.
Blackbullion’s award-winning platform can be accessed for free by over 1 million students at partner universities, colleges and other organisations, worldwide. Embedded into student support departments to help with funds distribution and provide financial education, Blackbullion gives students the skills and confidence they need to create a money-smart future.
As a tech leader, Vivi was recently named as FinTech Magazine’s Top 100 Women. Her second book, Stay Financially Healthy, was published in 2022.
