Skipped meals, abandoned care, multiple jobs, … Two thirds of students live on less than 100 euros per month

This is a figure which alone sums up the extent of the phenomenon: 69% of precarious students live on less than 100 euros per month once their fixed costs are deducted. Carried out by Ipsos BVA for the Linkee association among 25,487 beneficiaries of food aid, the study highlights situations of great fragility.

Even before paying their essential expenses – housing, food, health or school fees – almost half (47%) have less than 400 euros per month. At the same time, 60% have to pay rent of more than 400 euros. An imbalance which plunges many students into the red: almost one in two experienced overdrafts or unpaid debts during the year.

Food becomes a luxury

Once the charges have been settled, arbitrations become inevitable. And they are primarily to the detriment of food. Nine out of ten precarious students say they reduce the quality of what they eat, and 76% even reduce the quantities.

Even more worrying, 65% say they skip at least one meal per week due to lack of means, even though they benefit from food aid. The products most affected are meat and fish (81%), but also fresh fruit and vegetables (50%), even basic foods such as starchy foods (18%).

Care, housing: cascading renunciations

Precariousness does not stop at the plate. Nearly one in two students gave up medical care in the last twelve months for financial reasons. Dental care comes first (45%), followed by consultations with the doctor (43%) and with a psychologist or psychiatrist (39%).

Added to these difficulties are often poor housing conditions: habitats that are too small, far from places of study, or even unsanitary. Almost half of the students questioned encounter difficulties in heating themselves. Even more alarming, 5% report having slept on the street or in a vehicle during the year.

Study anyway, but at what cost?

Faced with these constraints, a quarter of students combine studies and employment to meet their needs. But this precariousness has a direct impact on their academic career.

Thus, 22% say they are considering, or have already considered, abandoning their studies. And almost one in two (47%) fear not accessing the desired career due to financial difficulties.

An observation which worries the Linkee association, which mentions “extreme and cumulative vulnerabilities”, and calls for awareness of student insecurity which continues to worsen.