A survey run by the Irish League of Credit Unions and Spunout has found that 88% of college students worry about money with almost half saying they are always stressed about it.
Paying rent, college fees and the cost of books were some of the biggest financial concerns reported. It was also found that the majority do not use any sort of money management or budgeting technology to help them with this.
Paul Bailey is head of communications for the Irish League of Credit Unions. Speaking to Beat News he said many of the findings are of great concern:
"88% reported that they worry about money which is very concerning, nearly half said they struggle to afford living expenses when they're attending college and over 50% said they worry about their travel expenses and finding or keeping a part time job.
Generally, anyone who has gone to college will know that's how you fund your social life, getting a part time job but at the moment as we now in the hospitality industry a lot of them are closed."
Paul also says these worries can have a serious impact on student's mental health:
"The whole point of students going to college is to learn and have a good time but if you're constantly worried abouyt money, you're not gonna be able to focus on your studies and you're not going to have a good time. So you can imagine the effect that's gonna have on their mental health.
The Irish League of Credit Unions has launched a web series called Money on Your Mind that aims to try and help students to manage money better.
The details of the series as well as links can be found on their website.
