Is Student Finance Flawed?

Oh, so only high income parents work hard to provide for their kids? Really?

Working hard to provide for your kids doesn't entitle them to sit back and chill.

It's not patronising. If they don't want to work in order to afford stuff when they've had stuff provided to them already without having to work because their parents earn a lot, that's their problem.

You fail to understand that being in a higher income bracket is mostly down to luck. Someone can work their absolute assess off and still be on the lowest pay bracket. So you saying they're receiving stuff 'for free' is ignorant. Ignorant of the prior struggle put in to get to the same point as the well off kid.

I'm sorry but unless you've seen both sides of the coin, you can't comfortably comment on how 'hard' or not low income families have to work.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Im not sure how it can be seen as fair that one individual will be receiving the full £8.2k just because there parents earn less, why does that matter? Also say in circumstances where a family has say 3 children. I think it is very stupid to make an assumption that all "rich" people have millions of pounds of disposable income which is not the case.

It is also forgotten that many people have mortgages to pay, higher taxes, car insurance and are not gifted things such as housing benefits or whatever else people are given these days for free. In addition many working class kids go to university get the money and blow it on stupid things such as designer shoes or handbags or bottles in clubs to show off when in reality their parents can barely afford the gas bill.

Discuss...

I'm not talking about food banks here. I'm talking about material things that we do not need to survive, such as a uni education. What my point was, is that why are poorer students entitled to more money for uni than wealthier students are?

You can indeed turn your question back on me, and I'll happily answer. I work three jobs, that totals to a god damn number of hours per week, I have saved up lots of money from working minimum wage jobs since I was 18 and left school. So my question back to you is: why should I receive a lower loan than someone straight out of school from a lower income family, and why am I expected to make up the difference in the loans from my own pocket that I have slaved away for? That is not fair.

I have no one to fall back on. No one I can ask for financial support. That is the reason why I am entitled to the full amount. My family does not have the disposable income to help me out at all.

In short according to SFE people earning more than £XXXXX should be able to help out their child. It doesn't take into account a lot of factors.

Honestly I think everyone should get the same amount £8200. Every student should have an amount that they can live on without needing external sources of income. It's currently an awful system and it sucks. It should be an across the board amount for everyone up to a certain wage cap like 60-70k.
.

Okay. That's fair enough, but the point is why can't everybody get £8200? It shouldn't matter whether they're like you or on 20k, 30k, 40k. Everyone up to a very high cap, like you suggested, should be getting that £8200. If £8200 is really what is needed to live comfortably at uni, then everybody should be getting that and nobody should be having to depend on parents to make up the extra thousands.

It's because SFE makes the rules. They decide where the cut off points are and how much they're willing to give. It's how it is right now and students don't have any other choice unless their parents can pay it upfront or by term.

I don't know how you'd go about getting the change but you'd certainly have a lot of student support. Maybe start a petition and organise protests or something, Maybe write a letter to your local MP, I don't know.

My dad is the sole breadwinner. He earns £50k post-tax. He has 5 children and a partner out of work, and lives in London where things are naturally more expensive.

I'm only entitled to the minimum maintenance loan, and he won't lend me a single penny—if he helps pay for me, then he'd have to help pay for my 4 other siblings, or else it'd be unfair on them.

Meanwhile, my friend who is an only child and has both parents in work is entitled to the maximum maintenance loan as she receives child benefit.

Such a sh*t system.

My dad is the sole breadwinner. He earns £50k post-tax. He has 5 children and a partner out of work, and lives in London where things are naturally more expensive.

I'm only entitled to the minimum maintenance loan, and he won't lend me a single penny—if he helps pay for me, then he'd have to help pay for my 4 other siblings, or else it'd be unfair on them.

Meanwhile, my friend who is an only child and has both parents in work is entitled to the maximum maintenance loan as she receives child benefit.

Such a sh*t system.

No, not a **** system my friend you have a **** parent.


Posted from TSR Mobile

Oh, I'm aware of that. I shouldn't have to suffer for something out my control, though.

Boo hoo. 50k after tax? Your family is wealthy, pretending you're not is laughable. My aunt brought up 5 kids on a quarter of that salary. I don't believe people when they say their rich parents won't help them. If you literally didn't have money for food, your dad would give you money.

Well there's a line where the state has to draw and the parents has to take responsibility. And if they handed out that money to everyone then I can assure you everyone would get less as there just isn't enough to go around. Hence why the poor get first dibs.


Posted from TSR Mobile

I don't think you realise how little disposable income people on lower incomes have to actually save up. I work 18hrs a week earning £5.30 an hour. That's £95 a week before I take out petrol costs and my contribution towards the bills. I would love to save more money but it's difficult when you live barely above the breadline.

I can't work more hours because I need the time to study and get good grades and I need down time too. I don't want to burn out. Saving is difficult because there has been months where we've needed my salary to help out. My mum works full time at above minimum wage but it's not enough to cover all of the costs. Rent, food, petrol, gas, electric, t.v, internet, water, council tax etc.

Your comment is actually really insensitive. When you consider that millions of homes in britain rely upon food banks and second jobs to make ends meet because their pay doesn't make ends meet.
In some cases no, people on lower incomes can't always just save up.

It's that kind of mentality that would end up leaving higher education only for the rich, further increasing the pay gap. People in my situation need that money because their wage doesn't make ends meet. Without the extra help god knows what would've happened.

I'll turn your question back on you.
Why didn't you get a job and save up? Your parents were in a stable financial position right? You didn't worry about having a roof over your head and food to eat right? You didn't have to work and you chose not to. You could've easily had a job and put away a lot of money.

I never claimed that my family was impoverished, though if you're insinuating that we're secretly living in luxury, I ought to burst your bubble and inform you that we live in half council-owned housing, with 4 bedrooms and 7 occupants. Not lavish.

Since you appear to be the type to make presumptions, it would not surprise me if you thought that my dad isn't deserving of what he earns. He has worked 9-8 five days a week for the past 25 years as a software engineer. Both my parents lived in actual poverty; I'm extremely appreciative of how well off he is in the present moment, as he wasn't always. But he worked his ass off to get to where he is, and still does.

You can believe whatever you like, but he has not spent a penny on my older sister who is in her final year at uni. I'm not sure how well she's gotten by, but he lends her nothing.

Don't undermine other people's problems because you're spiteful of your own.

I insinuated nothing; I did not say you were living a luxurious lifestyle. You were the one who brought up your fathers (very large) salary and then gave some pretty feeble reasons as to why he couldn't afford to support you. The implication is clear, you think you're just as deserving as families who live on £12,000 or less. I'm not in the least bit interested in whether your dad deserves his salary or not, that is not the point.