UNIVERSITY students are working more and more – during holidays and during term-time – just to survive, says a joint report just published by the National Union of Students and the TUC.
The report, ‘All work and low pay: The growth in UK student employment’, says that the number of full-time students who are working has risen dramatically, from 406,880 in 1996 to 630,718 in 2006.
This represents a 54 per cent rise over the last decade.
Some 55 per cent of young people from families with managerial and professional backgrounds work – the figure rises to 61 per cent for those from manual backgrounds.
And the jobs they do are usually in ‘the low-pay, long-hours sections of the economy (mainly hospitality and retail)’.
According to the report, full-time students now work an average of 14 hours a week.
But one in five work more than 20 hours a week, and another one in five put in 15-20 hours, inevitably affecting their studies.
Nearly 40 per cent spent less time reading and studying, and a quarter reported missing lectures or classes.
Around 40 per cent of students in work were employed in shops and a further 21 per cent worked in bars, hotels and restaurants.
But only four per cent of students aged 18-25 are trade union members.
The NUS and TUC said that ‘Concern that students are ripe for exploitation, yet very few actually belong to trade unions’ has prompted them to sign an agreement ‘to try to encourage more students to think about signing up to a union when they first start working.’
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘More and more students are being forced to look for paid work not only because they need the cash to survive each term at university, but also because they want to avoid running up massive debts by the time they graduate.
‘This is especially the case among young people from poorer backgrounds who can’t rely on regular financial support from their parents.
‘Of course, working gives young people valuable experience which may help them secure that all-important first job and they are less likely to have money worries.
‘But although students run the risk of exploitation, long hours, low pay and their studies suffering, very few ever think of joining a union to win a better deal at work.’
The NUS President Gemma Tumelty said: ‘NUS feel strongly that students need to become more empowered around their rights to decent pay and working conditions and we urge as many students as possible to consider union membership.
‘This protocol agreement is a turning point for NUS.
‘We have always recognised that unionisation will become more and more important to working students who are suffering the consequences of huge personal debt.
‘Now we are getting organised.
‘With so many of their peers facing similar difficulties, NUS believe that the relationship of students and their unions will be an incredibly effective way of bargaining collectively, as well as ensuring that vital information on students’ rights and entitlements is disseminated effectively.’
However, students are growing increasingly angry that the leaders of the NUS are not fighting for the return of living student grants, and the abolition of all tuition fees.
Students want to know why the NUS leaders are not calling on the TUC to take strike action against the government until fees are scrapped and student debts abolished.
Instead of fighting for free education, the NUS leaders are accepting that students must work in order to pay their way through college, limiting the NUS to a campaign with the TUC to get ‘working students’ into trade unions.
The NUS-TUC joint report itself highlights the consequences of this policy.
The report says: ‘Our roles are not quite the same, but now that studying and working are no longer mutually exclusive many students have interests as workers, just as trade unions have always been committed to a properly funded public education system.
‘Full-time students spend approximately £10,000 a year, with half of this being used to pay for living costs.
‘Many students anticipate having debts at the end of every academic year, typically in the region of £8,000.
‘The result is that increasingly students have to take paid employment during vacations and in term-time and this brings them into contact with the world that trade unions represent.
‘And yet few students are union members.
‘Trade unions need to think about how they can reach out to non-union Britain and about how they can help people who move jobs on a regular basis.
‘We also need to raise awareness among students about trade unions.’
The report adds: ‘The protocol allows for a more organic relationship between the various TUC and NUS structures, helping to deepen the level of understanding between both organisations.
‘The protocol will also provide for TUC support to help the NUS foster an organising culture among its officers and activists, building on the work of the TUC Organising Academy.
‘As the protocol notes, there is much that trade unions can do to support students in employment, but there is also a great deal that the student movement can contribute to the continuing development of a vibrant trade union movement.
‘We believe this marks the beginning of an important alliance based on the shared values of social justice, collective organisation and democratic participation on campuses, in workplaces and within the wider community.
The report notes: ‘For all men working part-time, the average hourly rate of pay is £6.21 an hour in retail and £5.70 an hour in hotels and restaurants.
‘For all part-time women the rates are even lower at £5.98 and £5.51 respectively.
‘The growth in women students with part-time jobs has been much greater than among male students.’
Amongst ‘working students’ surveyed for the report, around two-thirds reported ‘increased stress levels and feeling overloaded’.
A higher proportion of ‘working students’ came from backgrounds where their parents had no experience of higher education (60 per cent).
The report notes that: ‘A new system of variable tuition fees has now been introduced.’
But even before these variable ‘top-up’ fees of £3,000 a year come into force this term, government figures have shown that more than half of full-time students and nearly all part-time students work during the academic year.
‘The effect on their studies is plain to see: a quarter of those students report missing lectures, seminars or tutorials due to work while almost one in five have missed deadlines.
‘Ten per cent of students have thought about dropping out for financial reasons,’ the report says.
On the low-paid jobs the students do, the report adds: ‘It is highly likely that the concentration of students who are largely unorganised by trade unions reinforces the low pay in those sectors.’
Students will not have to work to support themselves if the NUS – representing 5.2 million students – and the TUC – representing 6.5 million workers – take decisive, united action now to kick out this Blair government.