60% of Uni Students live below the Poverty Line (1 Viewer)

[braindrainedAsh]

SUV seems heaps better than UTS's accom.... your rent is really quite a bit cheaper than ours (if you minus the UCard mandatory costs), even though your rooms and stuff are pretty similar to ours, and you guys have grass and trees!! Plus the servery/convenience store/bar.....

 

[loquasagacious]

Well I get no YA and work 26 hours a week. Rent is 220 a fortnight total income p/f is $580. I do have other costs (eg car, parking, etc) however I would not say I was struggling. Tired from getting up at 4am to go to work yes.

In uni breaks I work full time and save, I also worked full time between school and uni saving almost all my income (as I was still living at home) and thus have savings to draw on when neccessary eg bond, books, whitegoods etc.

 

[Bunny04]

$20-40 a week for all uni / living costs is hell hard.. . ^_^;; meep thats what im stuck on.. damn work paying a fornight *scowls* oh and by the way.. keep USU fees to get cheap food

 

[ogmzergrush]

$20-40 a week for all uni / living costs is hell hard.. . ^_^;; meep thats what im stuck on.. damn work paying a fornight *scowls* oh and by the way.. keep USU fees to get cheap food

Yeah, because with VSU there'd be no way you could afford food with the money that would have gone towards fees.

 

[Xayma]

$20-40 a week for all uni / living costs is hell hard.. . ^_^;; meep thats what im stuck on.. damn work paying a fornight *scowls* oh and by the way.. keep USU fees to get cheap food

The only way you can argue that is if you buy ALL your food from a co-op and even then they are hard pressed to get it below supermarket prices.

Otherwise take a roll or something, I do it and it works out at around $1 a day (it would be cheaper if I used bread and I have two rolls).

 

[Generator]

Bloody hell, can't anyone state that they believe that USU helps them in some way? It's a valid stance, not that you would think so after reading through the many counter claims that appear within the hour after an anti-VSU post is made.

Edit: Uni food isn't that cheap, though.

 

[Xayma]

I believe USU helps many people in some way. I just don't believe that to get cheap food is a reasoning (and is one of the most used). If they said cheap entertainment in refrence to clubs and societies, and "free" bands (which is just cheap) I could not and would not argue that.

But the food isn't that cheap and quite frankly I see it as a waste of money, considering nearly 10 times of your own money goes towards subsidising the food then towards clubs and societies (at USYD anyway).

 

[Not-That-Bright]

The ONLY possible way the food is cheaper than the supermarkets and saves u more money than u paid is if it's taking money from someone else. Tho I doubt it's possible, but since i don't go to USYD or UNSW or whatever i guess i can't comment on their prices.

 

[loquasagacious]

Well at ANU union food is not cheap. In fact you end up paying as much for a crappy sandwhich as you would for a kickarse one in the canberra centre.

The argument I havn't seen used in support of USU is that it is actually a job creation program and helps people enter the workforce esp those with disabilities.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

You'd be surprised how many disabled people can find work.

 

[Skillo]

How many people are in TRUE financial trouble tho? I don't see many people at uni wearing shabby clothes.. which is usually a sign of financial difficulty.

Do you live away from home while you're attending uni?
Have you done what Ash has done and worked 45hrs a week and studied?
Do you know how hard going to uni is for families that have parents who have not been educated past Yr 10 (which is more common than you think) and work labourers jobs just to keep their family afloat and encrouage their children to go to university because they never got the chance?
Do you know how much uni costs for country kids that are trying to get a degree to improve their future?
Do you have any idea how hard it is watching your mates go to uni while you have to hang around in a country town work 2 jobs and try and get a 3rd so you can get $17 121 to gain independent status BECAUSE your parents can't afford to have two girls away from home at Uni because even though they're BOTH university educated they're teachers and can't support a 21yr old and a 18 yr old living 330km away and a 14yr old with a chronic illness?

No.

Well shut the f*ck up then.

Ahem.

 

[Korn]

Do you live away from home while you're attending uni?
Have you done what Ash has done and worked 45hrs a week and studied?
Do you know how hard going to uni is for families that have parents who have not been educated past Yr 10 (which is more common than you think) and work labourers jobs just to keep their family afloat and encrouage their children to go to university because they never got the chance?
Do you know how much uni costs for country kids that are trying to get a degree to improve their future?
Do you have any idea how hard it is watching your mates go to uni while you have to hang around in a country town work 2 jobs and try and get a 3rd so you can get $17 121 to gain independent status BECAUSE your parents can't afford to have two girls away from home at Uni because even though they're BOTH university educated they're teachers and can't support a 21yr old and a 18 yr old living 330km away and a 14yr old with a chronic illness?

No.

Well shut the f*ck up then.

Ahem.

Why cant you work part-time and do uni part-time????
He wasnt targeting those ppl that genuinely are financially struggling, btw so either you didnt read his posts, misunderstood them.

 

[LadyBec]

How many people are in TRUE financial trouble tho? I don't see many people at uni wearing shabby clothes.. which is usually a sign of financial difficulty.

well I have shabby clothes. although I try to not wear them at uni cos its kinda embarrasing to walk around in ratty clothes. Like the jeans im wearing now? they've got a nice collection of holes. and not ones that come in them already. I wear my nice clothes to uni most of the time and my shabby ones at home. which means I war the same nice jeans and the same 5 tops all the time, but what can you do?
I pay 140 bucks a week in like rent and food and whatnot, which is pretty good actually. Well apart from the fact that my housemate is a druggo (literally) I really struggled to scrape together the money for textbooks and stuff at the start of the year. To the point where I only own 2, 5 I borrowed from various librarys and 2 I have to read at uni. Which sucks. But it does prove that if your willing to have really REALLY overdue books and look around you dont have to buy all your textsbooks.
My parents are both university educated (well my mum went to teachers collage back in the day, but same diff), they own a small buisness and my mum stilll teaches 2 days a week. To fund uni for me my mothers been spending her rainy day/car fund - something she's been saving for years. Unfortunatly she doesnt have enough money to get me through all of next semester as well and im so far totally unsucessful in getting a job. anywhere. even at maccas.
So I might not be back here next semester. Although knowing my parents they'll do something (possible even talk out a loan) so I can finish my degree. We're not really poor or anything, its just that uni aint cheap, and well its hard for a lot of people. Plus I cant afford to go home unless its holidays. which REALLY sucks.

 

[withoutaface]

Skillo I'd suggest you dispose of your older sister.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Skillo - Stop making assumptions about me, I could address the point I made and defend it in the context of the claim that 60% of students live below the poverty line, but Instead I feel I should defend this personal attack on me first.

Do you live away from home while you're attending uni?
Have you done what Ash has done and worked 45hrs a week and studied?
Do you know how hard going to uni is for families that have parents who have not been educated past Yr 10 (which is more common than you think) and work labourers jobs just to keep their family afloat and encrouage their children to go to university because they never got the chance?
Do you know how much uni costs for country kids that are trying to get a degree to improve their future?
Do you have any idea how hard it is watching your mates go to uni while you have to hang around in a country town work 2 jobs and try and get a 3rd so you can get $17 121 to gain independent status BECAUSE your parents can't afford to have two girls away from home at Uni because even though they're BOTH university educated they're teachers and can't support a 21yr old and a 18 yr old living 330km away and a 14yr old with a chronic illness?

No.

Well shut the f*ck up then.

Ahem.

I was born in a Mt Druitt Housing comission home, I attended Mt Druitt High School for a while.
My Parents used to be on assistance, however have run a company and now I guess I am in a pretty well off situation so I don't have to work/go to uni.

However, I do work experience while I do my studies because I believe it's important.

You're being an over-dramatic bitch, realise what I was saying. I'm sick of the people complaining WHO AREN'T IN REAL TROUBLE. 60% of students might like to whinge, but i'm going to say from my PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS around about 80% of them wear designer label clothes.

 

[White Rabbit]

Maybe you should have a look at Unis were the majority of students move out of home to attend uni? CSU, UNE or SCU are prime examples. Almost everyone I know has moved away from home to come to Uni here and trust me, most of us do it tough. We can't find work because (a) theres 3000 other uni students trying to do the same and (b) it's ultimatley a country town. Those of us who live off Centrelink have 2/3 of it put towards rent, a fair bit on random charges the Uni feels to add on, and leaves very little for food. Yes, I am on the net atm, however I need net credit in order to access databases and journals. Yes, I shouldn't be on here, but I needed a break. In the last week, I've had maybe 4 decent meals. I'd agree that yes, uni students do live below the poverty line, esspecially if you look beyond Sydney University. Those with a large intake of students living away from home will reflect this. Just because we don't have 'shabby clothes' does not reflect our financial situation. I doubt you'd last a week living how some people here live.

 

[Korn]

Maybe you should have a look at Unis were the majority of students move out of home to attend uni? CSU, UNE or SCU are prime examples. Almost everyone I know has moved away from home to come to Uni here and trust me, most of us do it tough. We can't find work because (a) theres 3000 other uni students trying to do the same and (b) it's ultimatley a country town. Those of us who live off Centrelink have 2/3 of it put towards rent, a fair bit on random charges the Uni feels to add on, and leaves very little for food. Yes, I am on the net atm, however I need net credit in order to access databases and journals. Yes, I shouldn't be on here, but I needed a break. In the last week, I've had maybe 4 decent meals. I'd agree that yes, uni students do live below the poverty line, esspecially if you look beyond Sydney University. Those with a large intake of students living away from home will reflect this. Just because we don't have 'shabby clothes' does not reflect our financial situation. I doubt you'd last a week living how some people here live.

NTB goes to UWS not Usyd, and I assume that this post was aimed at NTB.
btw UWS is considered less well off then Usyd and ppl assume that the students are poorer

 

[Not-That-Bright]

wtf do u mean it doesn't reflect ur financial situation?
I'm not even talking about like wearing clothes from target, i go to uws penrith sometimes which is considered as having some of the 'poorer' students. The majority of them have designer label clothes and seem (at least to me) to have a shitload disposable income.

Perhaps those who have chosen to move out to go to uni are having it tough, tho that's your personal decision. You COULD have decided to say, move somewhere closer to the city, work a job for a few years to build up a little savings then go to uni, but u decided u want to go to uni and live perhaps RELITIVELY POOR (to say when u were with ur parents) for a mere 5 years or so.

 

[Korn]

Its assumed that UWS students are poorer than USYD students, but its not always the case. I would be in the same situation I am in now, no matter what uni I went to. my friend transferred from UWS to USYD and shes in the same situation as me, and she had to take out a loan just to pay for her student fees

See this is why USU must go it puts student into unnecessary debt

 

[Korn]

My friend said USYD fees are like 600 bucks

Yeah but they actually get something for their $$, what do we really get? I have seen what Jon A provided and it doesnt look like much