The cost of living crisis is at the forefront of the student brain if the OUSA Exec’s Tent City poll is anything to go by. The informal poll asked students what issues were highest on their priority list, with options including housing, a student bar, fresher life, drinking culture, lecture recordings, and the cost of living.
Yelling over the cacophony of Tent City (cries of joy over freebies and Radio One house music included), Welfare and Equity Rep Amy and Politics Rep Jett took a break from their BBQ duties at midday on Wednesday to give Critic Te Ārohi the lowdown.
“Overwhelmingly people have said cost of living and lecture recordings,” said Amy, gesturing to the board. Cost of living (‘cozzie livs’ if you’re cool like that) refers to all the things that you have to pay for to survive as an adult like groceries, rent, power, and Wi-Fi. “I feel like the costs sort of just keep adding up,” said Emily, a third-year law student.
Currently, the maximum living costs students are afforded with a Study Link student loan is $316.39 a week. Critic’s informal Instagram poll showed 74% of the 460 respondents rely on the weekly living costs for the bulk of their expenses, of which rent arguably takes the biggest piece of the pie. The typical rent price of a student flat in Dunedin sits between $160-$210, according to Critic’s 2024 census of over a thousand students. “You’d be hard-pressed to find something nice for under $200 a week,” said Emily.
When all the bills are paid, there isn’t much left in the coffers. Asked whether she thought it was realistic for students to be able to afford not to work alongside studies and rely solely on the student loan, Emily replied, “Possibly, but you’re not going to have a very fun time. You’re going to be living frugally.”
Her friend Nassima, manager of Rob Roy, was worried about the impact it would have on people’s ability to actually enjoy their lives after worrying about “all the normal stuff” such as going out on the weekends. “Obviously that’s a luxury, but I don’t think it should be,” she said. “Like you spend all your money and then what do you have?”
Current Exec ideas for tackling the cost of living crisis among students include how to make jobs in Dunedin more accessible to students. “Although that’s not directly dealing with cost of living, that is giving students more of an opportunity to personally deal with that,” said Amy.
Amy also spoke of plans for $6 dinners to be made available as an “extension” of the $4 lunches that are already offered at OUSA Clubs and Socs. The dinner would be similar to the Bowling Club’s community-focused offering in Caversham but in a more convenient spot for students – close to their North D flat or just across the road from the library during a night-time study session. Critic’s new friend Emily reckoned the suggestions of more part-time jobs for students and cheap dinners would be “steps in the right direction.”
The Exec plan to have a big old yarn about the findings of the Tent City poll at their next weekly meeting to decide where to focus their time and energy and to reap the best rewards for the student body in 2025.