Petition to STOP student loans going down

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but this is my first time posting! My sister just sent me this petition, apparently student loans aren't rising with inflation and you'll be losing £1,500.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/632022

I'm meant to be starting uni in September and I know student loans aren't meant to be a lot, but this seems crazy?? My parents are already supporting my sister so I don't know if they'll be able to support me too, but hopefully if enough people sign this the government will increase the loan.

Most people's salaries are not rising with inflation either, meaning most people have less money with which to live (in real terms) this year than last. Why should students be protected from the cost-of-living crisis?

My sister and her friends have always said the student loan isn't enough, so if it's going down even more, surely some people won't be able to get by?

Also I know that benefits and pensions are both going up with inflation, so why shouldn't student loans?

This is true.

Inflation-linked benefits and tax credits will rise by 10.1% from April 2023, in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation in September 2022. Similarly, pensions are currently subject to the "triple lock", meaning that they are guaranteed to rise in line with the higher of CPI (as at September 2022), average earnings between May 2022 and July 2022, or 2.5 per cent. So these will raise by 10.1% in April too. Students are seeing the maximum maintenance loan increasing by just 2.8%.

So why shouldn't student loans increase by 10.1% too? I don't know what argument the Government would put forward here, but I suspect it's simply that they have less of a "voice" then those claiming benefits and pensioners:

(a) There are 2.66 million students at UK higher education institutions (mostly studying first degrees; figures from 2021/21 figures) (source). As of February 2022, 22 million people were claiming some form of benefits*, in England, Scotland and Wales (source). As of February 2022, the number of people receiving State Pension was 12.5 million. (source)

(b) Across the last three general elections, of those in the 18-24 age group (which most students will be), only about 50% voted; for those in the 65-74 and 75+ age groups (which most pensioners will be), in excess of 80% voted. Of the other age groups average about 70% voted (source).

So, the group who received a 10.1% increase is comprised of 32.5 million people, 70-80% of whom vote. The group who received a 2.8% increase is comprised of 2.66 million students, about 50% of whom vote. (Correlation is not the same as causation.)

* I realise that not all 22 million benefit claimants will see their benefits increase by 10.1%, as only those benefits which are inflation-linked are increasing by that amount. However, I couldn't be bothered to work out which are inflation-linked and which aren't, and then lookup-the stats per benefit, avoiding counting the same claimants twice.

I 100% agree with everything you've said, but surely this is exactly why students/anyone who cares about students needs to fight this?

If the issue is that students won't get what they need because they don't have enough of a voice, surely a big part of the solution is doing things like signing this petition (and voting obv).

Agreed. That's why I signed the petition earlier today.

Most people's salaries are not rising with inflation either, meaning most people have less money with which to live (in real terms) this year than last. Why should students be protected from the cost-of-living crisis?

Because it is a loan. So will be paid back.