Tackling social work student poverty IN EDUCATION RESEARCH POLICY
Tackling Social Work Student Poverty Preparation Presentation Len Baglow & Susan Gair Len Baglow
Aim of Workshop Participants will discuss, debate, discover information re student poverty Participants will discover a couple of practical things they can do to reduce student poverty
Real Aim That you will come away with a hunger and passion for Justice!
National Student Poverty 15-18 % of domestic full-time undergraduate students report I regularly go without food or other necessities because I cannot afford them Source: 3 University Australia national studies, 2006, 2012, 2017
National Study of Social Work Students 1 32 % of domestic full-time social work undergraduate students & 29 % of domestic full-time social work post-grad course work degree students report I regularly go without food or other necessities because I cannot afford them
NSSWS 2 – On student lives As a student have you had at any time not enough money for Food 43% 760 Clothing 51% 902 Accommodation 35% 625 Education resources 71% 1263 Transport 46% 825 Medication 38% 675 n=1781
NSSWS 3 On students’ study experience Texts and Ed resources 60% 1,200 Overtired paid work 54% 1083 Skip classes paid work 39% 785 Defer in order to work 33% 666 Lower grades than expected 55% 1090 Likely to drop out 31% 625 N = 1997
NSSWS 4 – Qualitative data *In the past when I worked part-time and received Austudy/Youth Allowance I had very little money and was rarely able to purchase textbooks or readers. I also have a chronic disease which requires a large amount of medication, which I have had to stop taking due to having insufficient money. *Often go days without food, often I must choose between food or transport, frequently late with rent payments and have had to forgo my medication I take for depression and anxiety to get food, fuel etc which serves only to exasperate the situation and my condition.
Why is there social work student poverty? In groups of 2-3 I would like you to discuss this question. Can one person be a scribe and record briefly your answers. Time 5 minutes.
A possible reason for student poverty. Because students don’t know how to budget.
2 nd Possible reason for student poverty Student field placements are too long, too inflexible, or unpaid .
Discussion of reasons for student poverty from group Can we shout out the reasons people have on their lists. What is a possible solution?
Understanding the context of social work student poverty Basic Rate of Austudy and Youth Allowance for a single student living independently $455.20 per fortnight which is $100 less than Newstart and $400 less than the Henderson Poverty Line
Decrease in value of Allowances over time 1997 Newstart worth 92% of Aged Pension 2019 Newstart worth 66% of Aged Pension 2019 Austudy worth 54% of Aged Pension
The Wider Picture Neoliberalism Emphasises individualism rather than the community good Markets know best Smaller Government Greater inequality – leading to great poverty Lower wages and lower rates of income support* Less funding for public education eg universities Mythologising of poverty – real poverty does not exist or is fault of the poor
Neoliberalism in a quote
Why haven’t students taken more action about student poverty? No time or energy Grateful to have made it to university Stigma
Why haven’t academics taken more action about student poverty? Corporatisation of universities and less public funding has led to: Larger class sizes, less autonomy for junior staff, increased casualisation, less time for individual students or external activities. & Advocacy is not necessarily part of an academic’s skill set
One possible solution to student poverty 1. Increase Austudy, Youth Allowance and Abstudy to the Aged Pension rate. i.e. Increase the current rates of Austudy by about $200 per week And 2. Widen the eligibility of Austudy, Youth Allowance and Abstudy so that no student need live in poverty
What can you do to convince the Govt to increase support for students? Can I get you to divide into 4 groups Educators Researchers Practitioners Students Discuss the above question with one person scribing. 5 Mins
Feedback from the 4 groups 1. Let’s hear from each group 2. What are the commonalities 3. How can the groups work together 4. Having heard each others input, are there other ideas people have had.
Academic References Baglow L & Gair S. (2019). Australian social work students: Balancing tertiary studies, paid work and poverty. Journal of Social Work . Vol 19 No 2 276-295. Gair S & Baglow L. (2017). Australian social work students balancing study, work and field placement: Seeing it like it is. Australian Social Work . Vol 71 No 1 46-57. Baglow L & Gair S. (2018). Mature-Aged Social Work Students: Challenges, Study Realities and Experiences of Poverty. Australian Social Work . Vol 72 No 1 91-104. Gair S & Baglow L. (2018). “We barely survived”: Social work students’ mental health vulnerabilities and implications for educators, universities and the workforce. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work , Vol 30 No 1 32-44. Gair S & Baglow L. (2018). Social justice in a tertiary education context: Do we practice what we preach? Education, Citizenship and Social Justice . Vol 13 No 3 207-216
Other references Gair S. 2018. Balancing work and tertiary study is harder now than in 2012: study. The Conversation. https://bit.ly/2n1VpTi Baglow L. 2019. Tertiary student poverty ignored by policy makers. Independent Australia. https://bit.ly/2ZpCfbp Baglow L. 2018. Student poverty a wall on the bridge of higher education. The Record. https://bit.ly/2L6IeId Baglow L. & Gair S. 2019. Submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs. Adequacy of Newstart and related payments and alternative mechanisms to determine the level of income support payments in Australia. https://bit.ly/2oH6QQV
My learning from the workshop It is important for social work academics to acknowledge (in words) to students that student poverty is real, even if the academics feel powerless to help .
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