As students, we can all understand the fight against the rise in the cost of living. At Greenwich Students’ Union, we are researching the effect of increasing the cost of living with an aim to find a solution for you. 

So, what is the cost of living crisis?

The current crisis refers to the fall in ‘real’ incomes (adjusted for inflation and tax changes) that the UK has experienced since late 2021. The main cause of the crisis follows steep rises in the price of goods and, more recently, energy costs. These costs are rising at a rate at which household income is not keeping up, and wages are not rising at a rate to follow the steep rise in inflation. 

It is apparent that the crisis has led students to turn to last resort; an NUS survey reported that 11% of students are turning to food banks, showing that the financial support available is not enough in many cases for students to both heat their homes and eat. This presents the struggle of many students who are simply trying to gain an education. This falls in addition to the fact that 8% of students and 4% of apprentices believe that the government is doing enough to support them. 

We want to hear what you think about how the cost of living crisis is affecting you and those around you. With your help, we aim to pass information and statistics gathered from our survey onto University officials and possibly local members of parliament with the hope of action taking place to allow us all to thrive whilst studying and living at university.  

Remember, you have the power to change things! Take part in our research project to tell us how the cost of living crisis is affecting you so that we can support work to find solutions that support you where you need it most. 

Our survey for the project will take about 10 minutes to fill out, and you could win up to £100 in a prize draw for taking part.  

Visit gresu.uk/costoflivingsurvey to take our survey today!