Uni students relying on charities for food
‘It’s such a distant reality for some to even go to university’
Food charity Good Neighbour has given away $136,000 worth of food in the past financial year to students at the University of Waikato and Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Tauranga.
Students associations say the trend is occurring at tertiary institutes across the country as it gets harder for a¯konga to cope with “skyrocketing” food prices. .
The situation is compounded by rental costs in Tauranga, which are forcing some locals to live in boats and vans.
Good Neighbour general manager Rene´e Hanna said a growing number of students had been using the food service since the charity started in 2020, particularly in the past year.
“It seems to have gone from [an] additional bonus to ‘we now rely on this, we need this food’.”
Students were unlikely to ask for help and were often suffering in silence, with those unable to access student allowances suffering most.
For students under 24, eligibility for a student allowance was calculated on parental income.
Families earning above the eligibility threshold were often “struggling to put food on their own tables, let alone support their tertiary students”.
Hanna said these were the students “falling through the loophole”.
Student Jess, 20, who spoke on condition her surname was not published, was ineligible for a student allowance and relied heavily on her student loan.
She worked casual shifts at an after-school care facility, without which she could not afford to cover her basic living costs.
“You get so financially stressed that everything’s just hard.”she was reluctant to ask her parents for help and felt guilty asking for money.
“We complain about a lot . . . the cost of life and studying, [so] it’s actually nice to be seen and heard,” she said.
Waikato Student Union president George Liu said students had always done it tough “but it is getting harder”.
More students were experiencing financial hardship over the past few years due to the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
The union offered services such as the Kai Cupboard, where students can pick food up for free, and staff provided regular barbecues.
“In 2023 alone, WSU delivered 1200 Good Neighbour food parcels to students in Tauranga.”
Increased rents in the Bay were “effectively driving students out of certain rental markets”.
Third-year student Faith Healey, 20, said finding accommodation in Tauranga was hard because, in her view, some landlords did not think students were reliable enough to pay rent on time each week.
During the summer, when her student loan was paused, Healey was able to secure only 16 hours a week of work. Without her partner’s financial support, she said she would have had only $5 left weekly after covering her costs.
“You can’t even go on the benefit as you’re still a registered student.”
University of Waikato student Rhea, 20, who also did not want her surname published due to privacy reasons, said it had become harder over the past three years to survive and noted that parking was an issue. Taking public transport was not always an option due to her schedule.
Rhea said she did know not how people got through years of study without family support.
“It’s such a distant reality for some to even go to university, which is really sad because everyone should have the same opportunity . . . to have this education, and living at home is not always an option.”
Once rent and necessary expenses are taken care of, many are left with little for groceries. Rhea said “a whole bunch of us” would often benefit from food handouts by Good Neighbour with the student union.
“Yesterday, I got a bag with toilet paper, milk, oats, muesli bars, baked beans. If we go into uni and we’ve no lunch, we could probably go ask for some noodles or something like that.”
Students around the country are facing similar challenges.
A Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association spokesperson said “students are working more and are finding it harder to make ends meet”.
Otago University Students’ Association president Keegan Wells said: “The skyrocketing price of healthy food is nearly impossible to maintain on a student’s budget, especially during winter”.
The situation meant the “physical, mental and general wellbeing” of many students was affected.
Wells said the association had noticed a significant increase “in food parcel requests over the last few years, particularly as local rent continues to increase coupled with rising food costs”.
It also provided food vouchers sponsored by a private donor.
University of Canterbury Students’ Association president Luc Mackay said the Studylink income was not enough to live on with rent of $180 to $200 a week consuming half their income, meaning part-time work was necessary.
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology faculty dean Bart Vosse said some students experienced poverty and engagement facilitators lent support with budgeting, student loans and fees, and hardship assistance.
A University of Waikato spokesperson said students leaving home for study were particularly affected by the cost of living, and the university offered residential scholarships and self-catered studio rooms, which accommodated 91 students.
Director of student services Brett Mcewan said 45 per cent of students living in its Tauranga accommodation had a university-funded scholarship.
To offer a cost-effective solution for students living outside the main centres, a joint transport initiative between the University of Waikato,
Toi Ohomai and Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council was created.
The Regional Tertiary Commuter Baybus offered services from Whakata¯ne, Katikati and Rotorua to Tauranga, and Murupara and Tauranga to Rotorua.
All except for the Katikati to Tauranga route were free for those with a valid student ID from a Nzqaregistered institution.
Council transport operations manager Stuart Nightingale said fares were kept affordable with significant concessions for tertiary students and aimed at alleviating parking and fuel concerns.
Asked during a visit to Tauranga if students needed more government support, Associate Minister of Education David Seymour told the Bay of Plenty Times he recognised how hard it was for students and recalled still having student debt when he was elected to Parliament.
He cited the rising cost of rents as the primary reason students were finding it tougher now, but aside from the annual standard adjustments where student allowances were increased by 5 per cent on April 1, the Government was not in a position to “[splash] the cash” at any particular problem.
Seymour said he did not know how students managed rental costs and that it’s “very, tough”, however, “the Government is up against it trying to balance the budget, so there’s no area where you’re going to see more spending”.
The skyrocketing price of healthy food is nearly impossible to maintain on a student’s budget, especially during winter.
Otago University Students’ Association president Keegan Wells