Two-thirds of university students living below the poverty line: report
New research shows two-thirds of Australian university students live below the poverty line and financial stress is on the rise.
Universities Australia surveyed close to 12,000 full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Twenty-one per cent of respondents had an annual income of less than $10,000, and a further 40.3 per cent earned between $10,000 and $19,000.
The mean annual income was $18,634 for undergraduate students.
The report found one in five students occasionally goes without food, up from one in eight in 2006.
It also found half of students rely on financial support from their families to keep studying.
Two-thirds of undergraduates reported being worried about their financial situation, and the level of financial distress was even greater amongst Indigenous students and people from low socio-economic backgrounds.
(Source: ABC Online)
