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University undergraduates no longer think education and qualifications guarantee financial success in later life according to grant-giving charity Elizabeth Finn Care.

 

A new survey commissioned by Elizabeth Finn Care found that 90% of students between the ages of 18-24 thought that poverty could affect them either during studies or after graduation.

 

The findings also show students no longer believe that education is a means to financial security. Some 88% of students thought they would suffer from poverty after graduation.

 

The students’ pessimism, fuelled by increasing debts and the credit crunch is mirrored in reality with Elizabeth Finn Care helping increasing numbers of former top professionals with university qualifications.

 

The total amount lent to eligible Higher Education students during the financial year 2007-08 was £3,905 million.

 

At the end of the academic year 2008 there were still 1.7 million graduate borrowers who had yet to fully repay their student loans.

 

With 83% of students believing education is not a guarantee to success and wealth, such high personal debt is becoming an unattractive option to young people starting their career path. Only two in five thought that education would ensure they have a career in the field they wanted.

 

Russell Wray, a recent graduate from Kingston University says,

 

“I believe it is an advantage to have a degree as opposed to just A levels, however, that doesn’t mean it is easier to get the job you want. After graduating from university it was difficult finding a job, and definitely one in the career path I wish to pursue.

 

“Money is certainly an issue. I don’t earn enough to live comfortably after paying rent, council tax and bills. I have to budget my money almost as much as I did at university.

 

“Education is definitely not a guarantee to wealth. No one can be expected to become wealthy immediately after university, however, after graduating I expected to be able to live comfortably and have additional expenditure for myself. This is not the case.”

 

Students think poverty can still be an issue even after a good education and successful career. Some 83% noted that if they were to struggle financially in later life they wouldn’t hold themselves responsible.

 

According to charity spokesperson Bryan Clover: "Such views reflect the reality of today's world where increasing numbers of ex-professionals and people who had previously held positions of responsibility are barely surviving in our midst.

 

"Elizabeth Finn Care has recently had to give Christmas hampers as emergency food supplies to former professionals unable to cope and living lives of barely imaginable desperation."

 

Brian Clover, Director of Casework, continued, “We have seen that the days when a degree was a passport to a good career are long gone.  The added difficulty of finishing your degree with substantial debt is making it increasingly hard for graduates to avoid the poverty trap.  But more critically, ill health or family breakdown can strike at any time, and even those with good career prospects can find their worlds turned upside down.  Poverty hits hard, and we are working to get people back to work to help them overcome the problems that they face.”

 

 

 

Founded in 1897, Elizabeth Finn Care is a leading grant-giving charity dedicated to helping people who are living in poverty in the UK. The people we help are from skilled backgrounds, who previously worked in many professions and occupations, but who, through no fault of their own – through redundancy, illness, family breakdown, can no longer work.

 

Elizabeth Finn Care commissioned GfK NOP to conduct the online survey of 250 current University students between the ages of 18 –24 in November 2008.