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Survey: Students forced into taboo trade to make ends meet

A new study finds that 7% of the British students have been forced to get involved in taboo trades to get by. (File image of a British student)

A new study shows that an increasing number of British students are forced into adult work, gambling and other taboo trades to make their ends meet.

According to a survey by Save the Student, a student financial advice website, nearly 7% of the students have already been forced to get involved in adult work or undergo medical trials to earn money, with 6% resorting to gambling in an effort to balance their income.

The study also reveals that almost 20% of students surveyed said they considered gambling, adult work or medical testing a good way to top up their maintenance loans.

According to the report, an average student in the UK spends £745 per month and gets only £480 in loan payments.

More than 70 percent of the students are forced to rely on their parents for financial assistance and some 65 percent have part-time jobs.

Shadia Edwards-Dashti , International Politics MSc student at SOAS, says “inadequate student loans” have put the students in a “dangerously compromising situation”.

“Young people are now not only considering but actually exercising practices like gambling, sex work and engagement in medical experiments to raise their funds… This is taking young people into a very dangerous and precarious situation, Shadia Edwards-Dashti, student representative at Stop the War Coalition told Press TV on Tuesday.

She also slammed government’s spending cuts to the education sector and said the austerity measures have worsened the situation.

“24% cuts have already been implemented to the Further education sector. Severe cuts also entrench the National Health Service too. These rigorous and vigorous simultaneous cuts have disastrous effects. Young people’s mental health issues have peaked as a result. The financial stress is such a burden on young people that not only detracts from their study, resulting in lower grades, but is also the cause of many young people’s depression and anxiety issues. The conservative government, do not prioritize young people. They place young people in treacherous conditions whereby students have to engage in absurd activities elsewhere to make ends meet,” the student activist concluded.

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