The government must provide extra financial support for students and graduates who don’t have family to help them out

As the Covid-19 crisis took hold of the nation, there was a mass exodus of students from university campuses as most followed orders to go home. Yet for around 8,000 young people without family networks to rely on, it wasn’t so easy. These students had no choice but to remain on campus and live in the eerie remnants of what was once a thriving academic population. There is no doubt they are vulnerable: survivors of abuse, trauma, LGBT+ rejection and severely challenging family dynamics.

Not only have these students lost their community, but new survey data shows that they have also lost their jobs. This is troubling as we know that students who have no family support rely heavily on part-time work to meet their living costs – and these problems will become even more acute as we move into the summer period. My own research has consistently found that young people who are estranged from family rely on full-time work over the summer to meet the entirety of their living costs since there is no statutory finance.

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Read more: theguardian.com