Living beyond our means, or just poverty?

[woodview]

'Student' debt will actually impact everytone in the long run, as a large portion of it will be written off. Until then it doesn't feature in the Government debt figures, as it is still liable to be paid. By that time, I believe, from memory, it will become a national debt to the tune of a few hundred billion.

[El Cid]

3 hours ago, woodview said:

'Student' debt will actually impact everytone in the long run, as a large portion of it will be written off. Until then it doesn't feature in the Government debt figures, as it is still liable to be paid. By that time, I believe, from memory, it will become a national debt to the tune of a few hundred billion.

1

Its changed very recently.

 

We have decided that the best way to reflect student loans within these statistics is to treat part as financial assets (loans), since some portion will be repaid, and part as government expenditure (capital transfers), since some will not. We describe this as the partitioned loan-transfer approach.

 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/newtreatmentofstudentloansinthepublicsectorfinancesandnationalaccounts/2018-12-17

[woodview]

28 minutes ago, El Cid said:

Its changed very recently.

 

We have decided that the best way to reflect student loans within these statistics is to treat part as financial assets (loans), since some portion will be repaid, and part as government expenditure (capital transfers), since some will not. We describe this as the partitioned loan-transfer approach.

 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/newtreatmentofstudentloansinthepublicsectorfinancesandnationalaccounts/2018-12-17

Looks as though that will reflect the true position better.

[Guest makapaka]

8 hours ago, Cyclone said:

Know a lot about how students live do you?  When was the last time you visited a student house share?

Mine was in the last 2 to 3 months.

Well I I have  3 relatives who are currently students.

 

they have made different decisions and will have different levels of debt as a consequence.

Edited January 9, 2019 by makapaka

[Cyclone]

10 hours ago, makapaka said:

Well I I have  3 relatives who are currently students.

 

they have made different decisions and will have different levels of debt as a consequence.

So are you backtracking from your generalisation?

Quote

a students expectations in terms of living standards is way above that which someone should expect

Is this now just 'some' or 'a minority of' students?

 

Have you actually visited them btw?  I'm just thinking back to when I was a student, I had one uncle who would drive me to/from uni occasionally if my parents were busy, but he never came into my uni accommodation or house share that I remember.  So only my parents would have ever seen it.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Cyclone

[Guest makapaka]

1 hour ago, Cyclone said:

So are you backtracking from your generalisation?

Is this now just 'some' or 'a minority of' students?

 

Have you actually visited them btw?  I'm just thinking back to when I was a student, I had one uncle who would drive me to/from uni occasionally if my parents were busy, but he never came into my uni accommodation or house share that I remember.  So only my parents would have ever seen it.

There are other examples of decisions students make which cost more money than is actually necessary to obtain a degree.

 

im sure you could think of some if you try.

 

i haven’t visited them at home no - I know where they live and roughly how much they pay to live / travel there though.

 

[alchresearch]

19 hours ago, Cyclone said:

Know a lot about how students live do you?  When was the last time you visited a student house share?

Mine was in the last 2 to 3 months.

In my area, student house shares are now in decline, due to a combination or poor standards of housing, and the fact that universities have seen what a cash cow student accommodation is - and they've built their own luxury halls for them, some including a 24 hour gym and pool, and decent communal facilities such as games rooms.  And they're not just for first years any more.

 

https://www.primestudentliving.com/assets/welcomepacks/Prime_Welcome_Pack_2018_Glassworks.pdf

[Cyclone]

16 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

In my area, student house shares are now in decline, due to a combination or poor standards of housing, and the fact that universities have seen what a cash cow student accommodation is - and they've built their own luxury halls for them, some including a 24 hour gym and pool, and decent communal facilities such as games rooms.  And they're not just for first years any more.

 

https://www.primestudentliving.com/assets/welcomepacks/Prime_Welcome_Pack_2018_Glassworks.pdf

This type of accomodation exists in Sheffield as well, but I don't know many students who use it.  House shares in Crookes and Broomhill still seem to be popular.  (1st years in Sheffield have always used halls, they have more choice now about the level of service and the cost).

Edited January 10, 2019 by Cyclone

[tinfoilhat]

23 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

In my area, student house shares are now in decline, due to a combination or poor standards of housing, and the fact that universities have seen what a cash cow student accommodation is - and they've built their own luxury halls for them, some including a 24 hour gym and pool, and decent communal facilities such as games rooms.  And they're not just for first years any more.

 

https://www.primestudentliving.com/assets/welcomepacks/Prime_Welcome_Pack_2018_Glassworks.pdf

Seen a fair bit of these on my travels. Some of the buildings are pretty big.

Edited January 10, 2019 by tinfoilhat

[Cyclone]

26 minutes ago, makapaka said:

There are other examples of decisions students make which cost more money than is actually necessary to obtain a degree.

 

im sure you could think of some if you try.

 

i haven’t visited them at home no - I know where they live and roughly how much they pay to live / travel there though.

 

Interesting point about saving money, they probably could, you're right.  But think about it like this;

Option A - don't save money.

Student debt is larger, will be written off at 55, size of debt doesn't alter the level of repayments.

 

Option B - save money.

Student debt is smaller, will still be written off at 55, size of debt doesn't alter the level of repayments.

 

75% of todays students are expected to have the debt written off at 55.

So unless you're very sure that you will be in that top 25% who will pay it off (which generally means family funding at uni, or an extremely well paid job) then there's absolutely no point in taking anything less than the maximum loan.

Now, you don't HAVE to spend that loan of course, but that's probably expecting a little too much of an 18 - 22 year old.