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Parity welfare association: Almost every third student lives in poverty

2022-05-17T08:08:33.559Z


The majority of students have an income below the statistical poverty line. Social experts are therefore calling for significant improvements to the planned Bafög reform.


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Students in the lecture hall (2019): Those who live alone are particularly at risk of poverty

Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / picture alliance / dpa

Almost every third student in Germany is mathematically affected by poverty.

For students living alone, the figure is even 79 percent - mainly because of the higher housing costs.

This is the result of calculations by the Paritätischer Gesamtverband, which have now been published.

The association is therefore calling for a significantly higher Bafög increase than is currently planned by the federal government.

Last week, the coalition introduced a reform in the Bundestag, according to which the maximum Bafög rate should increase from the current 861 euros to 931 euros from the fall.

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The average income of poor students is currently 802 euros.

This puts them 463 euros below the poverty line.

Not only 80 percent of single-person households are disproportionately affected by poverty, but also 45 percent of students receiving student loans.

»Stale clichés are absolutely outdated«

"The old-fashioned clichés of a happy student life with little money but a lot of free time are absolutely outdated and have nothing to do with the reality of life and the pressure of studying nowadays," said Ulrich Schneider, general manager of the Paritätisches Gesamtverband.

The analysis is based on data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from 2020 and surveys by the Deutsches Studentenwerk on the economic and social situation of students in Germany.

In Germany, poverty is defined by household income and the resulting opportunities for social participation.

According to this, people who have to get by on less than 60 percent of the median income are considered poor or at risk of poverty – even if those affected might not describe themselves as poor.

Planned increase does not compensate for inflation

With the planned increase in the Bafög rates by five percent, no structural improvement will be achieved, according to the parity with regard to the financial situation of the students.

Given the current rate of inflation, the planned adjustment is not even enough to maintain purchasing power.

"Therefore, it is necessary to raise the Bafög requirement rates appropriately and to update them automatically and regularly," the association demanded.

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In addition to raising the subsidy rates by five percent, the traffic light coalition also plans to increase the parental allowances in order to expand the circle of those entitled to student loans.

Student representatives and social organizations are still pushing for changes such as a clear increase in rates before the Bundestag decision.

"Since the corona pandemic at the latest, it has been clear that structural poverty among students is a real problem," says Lone Grotheer from the "free association of student bodies".

The planned increase is therefore "far too little".

An assessment that Matthias Anbuhl, General Secretary of the Deutsches Studentenwerk, also agreed with.

Unfortunately, poverty among students is a well-known phenomenon, said Anbuhl.

The demands for a significantly higher increase in Bafög rates are therefore fully justified.

him/dpa/AFP

Source: spiegel

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