Students face financial crunch

Thousands of students face mounting financial pressure this year because the Government was not quick enough to help them find summer jobs, New Zealand student union co-president David Do says.

Figures obtained by The Star reveal a 65% increase in the number of students receiving the Student Hardship benefit this summer compared with a year ago.

Otago University Students' Association president Harriet Geoghegan said Student Job Search (SJS) should have been quicker to find students jobs.

But New Zealand University Students Association co-president David Do said it was the Government that should have responded to the recession by giving SJS additional funding earlier.

Ministry of Social Development figures show the Student Hardship benefit was granted to 12,218 students in December, up from 7401 at the end of 2008.

Of those on the benefit this summer, 879 were in Dunedin.

Ms Geoghegan said there had been a "massive increase" in the number of students looking for work through SJS.

While SJS had advertised to find employers, "their marketing campaign came a bit late", she said.

"They got an increase [in jobs] but it missed the students at the start of summer when they were looking for work," Ms Geoghegan said.

Mr Do, of Wellington, said while it was good the Government gave SJS additional funding for a marketing campaign, the number of students unable to get work showed "not enough was done in time".

The number unable to get work was probably much higher than the figures suggested because many students were not eligible for the hardship benefit, which included a parental-income means test for students under the age of 24, Mr Do said.

"Many students use summer jobs to save a bit to offset some of their living and academic costs during the year.

"Now they will face increased financial pressure and stress," he said.

SJS chief executive officer Paul Kennedy, of Wellington, agreed it had been "a challenging summer".

His organisation had started an early job-recruitment campaign but it had lacked resources until the Government's December funding boost.

The campaign resulted in a 30% to 50% increase in jobs on offer "and the quality of the jobs is way up", Mr Kennedy said.

He urged students looking for employment to contact SJS.

At the time of publication, The Star had not received a response to questions put to the Minister Of Social Development, Employment and Youth Affairs Paula Bennett.