Information about cuts to students’ income
During the last weeks’ frame negotiations, the government decided to make cuts to students’ income. The largest cut directly affecting students is the shift from general housing allowance to a form of housing supplement.
- From general housing allowance to housing supplement
To save money, students are being moved from the general housing allowance to a form of housing supplement. This means that when the change takes effect, you as a student will no longer receive the general housing allowance. The new housing supplement will likely be linked to the student allowance. The size of the new housing supplement is still being looked into, but it will likely decrease from the current level. Details are still unclear. The matter is further discussed in the working group for the total reform of student allowance at the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Student Union will inform as soon as more details become available. The change will take effect on August 1st 2025. - Tax increases – Value Added Tax (VAT)
The Orpo government has also chosen to increase certain taxes. The increase that affects students the most is an increase in the VAT. Goods and services with a 24% VAT will be raised to 25.5%. This means that most everyday services will become slightly more expensive, such as barber visits and fuel. The VAT on medicines and groceries will not be increased for now. The change is planned to take effect no later than September 1st 2024. - Increases in healthcare fees
Some fees within public healthcare will be increased. This applies to the healthcare services of wellbeing services counties. If you have prescription medication, the deductible for medications will be increased from €50 to €70 per year. At the same time, fees for doctor visits will also be raised. The extent of the increased fees is still unclear. The fees will be raised during the autumn of 2024.
The government’s decisions will hit students hard. The Student Union will keep you updated on the decisions being made. The Student Union is also working together with other student unions and the National Union of University Students in Finland to try to prevent the total dismantling of students’ basic security.
April is getting closer; the sun is shining over the student city. April is getting closer; the birds sing louder and the electric kickboards are flying faster by. April is getting closer and so is the reduction of the housing allowance.
The economic situation for students is becoming tougher when Orpo’s government has taken the decision to cut down Finland’s budget. The decision the government made, will have a big impact on the students’ economy. According to statistics published by the National Union Of University Students in Finland (SYL), an average student will have €76 less money after the cut. At the same time, the government wants to see more people graduate at a faster pace. The students of today are already in a difficult position economically. Rents that have risen, student allowances that have not been index adjusted and electricity prices that have flung around. How are the students going to make ends meet? More loans? Part-time jobs? Full-time jobs?
The fact is that not everyone can work at the same time as you’re studying. I for example have during my years as a student had such courses that have required so much time and effort, that a big part of my free time have been sacrificed for schoolwork. There is no chance that I’d been working at the same time. Now however, I and many other students might have to rethink. Finding a job is not that easy as well. I would then also have to slow down the pace.
Not only does this change bring economic difficulties, but also mental difficulties. The pandemic’s been “over” for a while and people have been allowed to meet each other freely during a few years already, but that doesn’t have to mean people are feeling well again. Our big neighbor in the east has been warmongering for a few years and the queues to mental health services haven’t become shorter. What’s going to happen now that students aren’t doing that well mentally and at the same time, we’re given less money? What do you do when you don’t have enough money to pay rent, food, and other necessities? More loans again?
The state puts the burden on students to balance the state budget. Instead of giving students higher housing allowance and student aid, students might soon have to strongly consider taking the student loan which was formerly called the “free loan”. Many of the people graduating will struggle paying off the now elevated debt as well as the incredibly high interest rates.
All this can in the long run lead to the government fighting against their own program. How are you supposed to graduate fast from uni if you are working while studying?
So dear government, cut somewhere else, you’ll otherwise have people sleeping on streets. Dear fellow students, take care of each other and count every penny.
Oscar Björkell
Member of the Board, Social Policy
The Student Union of Åbo Akademi University
We student unions say: it is time to stop making it more difficult for students to graduate!
Orpo’s government is proposing a fee of 50 euros for university students applying for an extension to complete their studies. The government’s goal is to raise the level of education in Finland, but at the same time, it is adding new obstacles to students’ graduation. Combined with the cuts to subsistence, adding a fee for applying for an extension only serves to repeat the same old message to students: you are nothing but a burden to society.
The government only justifies its proposal by stating that it would standardize practices across universities and universities of applied sciences and promote the equal treatment of higher education students. However, equality cannot be promoted by making the situation worse. The fee was introduced in universities of applied sciences at a different time and with different justifications.
Genuine equality would be represented by removing the fee from students in universities of applied sciences as well. This begs the question why Orpo’s government did not propose this instead.
The mental image of an eternal student lazing their way through their studies is inaccurate. Almost half of all higher education students work alongside their studies (Eurostudent VIII). At the same time, nearly one third of higher education students suffer from mental health challenges (Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey 2021).
Graduating in target time is not always in the student’s own hands. Students need extensions and apply for them for many different reasons. Students who started their studies during the coronavirus pandemic are in an especially vulnerable position. Significant challenges with study progress can already be observed among them.
Adding a fee for applying for an extension encourages students to choose dropping out of the university despite being close to completing their studies and heading to working life without graduating. At a time of an extensive shortage of experts, can we truly afford to set up more obstacles to graduation?
No impact assessments have been made on the fee either. Orpo’s government is choosing to fumble around blindly while the goal of raising the level of education in Finland gets further and further away.
We student unions say: it is time to stop making it more difficult for students to graduate! The Finnish government can support students graduating through sensible policies that promote wellbeing and subsistence. This reform is not going to help with that.
A completed degree benefits both students and the whole society – whether it is completed in target time or during an extension. It is wrong to punish students for wanting to complete their degrees.
Signatories:
Fanni Mattsson
Chair of the Board of Aalto University Student Union
Antti Kaijansinkko
Chair of the Board of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki
Akseli Immonen
Chair of the Board of the Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä
Noora Hakulinen
Chair of the Board of the Student Union of Tampere University
Jonne Kunnas
Chair of the Board of the Student Union of Åbo Akademi University