A recent survey shows being in debt is the main concern.
(Source: www.pixabay.com)Over half of college students in Ireland say they have to skip the odd lecture to work their part-time job.
55% of them reported skipping their college classes to work, because of financial concerns. A recent report by the Irish League of Credit Unions talked to 445 Irish students during April and May of 2019.
Out of that number, six in ten said having to work was having a negative impact on their studies and 24% said finance and debt is their biggest college-related worry.
Almost three-quarters of students (74%) said that they have to work during the college term to cope with the costs. Out of those that were working, seven in every 10 of them were working part-time, 14% were working full-time and 15% said they were working ad-hoc hours. On average, the study showed college students are working 15 hours per week.
Unsurprisingly, students said their biggest monthly expense was rent and according to this survey, this was where most of their money went towards:
- Rent - €318 a month
- Food - €116 a month on average
- Travel - €88
“It’s of concern to see that finance and debt is such a significant worry for so many students", said Paul Bailey - Head of Communications at The Irish League of Credit Unions.
"At a time when they should be focusing on their education, it’s worrying to see that greater numbers are skipping lectures and sacrificing time spent on their education in order to earn some extra money.”
