Working to Survive – The new aspect of the “student life”

*All source names have been changed to maintain anonymity.  

45.5% of respondents to a Canta survey said they worked to manage their expenses. Source: Unsplash.  

Full-time study and part-time work make an oxymoron, like a working vacation or an organised mess. For students studying full-time the UC course-load demands full-time hours, but many are working at the same time, cutting into essential hours of study and rest.  

According to the 2024 UCount survey, which collated data from 6,338 student responses, 43% of UC students work while they study. Of those, 121 students revealed to Canta in an online survey that working while studying can be a major burden. 

Undergraduate students Will* and Olivia* revealed working and studying at the same time is neither sustainable, nor optional. According to Olivia, although casual contracts might allow more flexibility, part-time or full-time work will run students into the ground.  

Will, who has worked through most of his education said because of the toll it took on his study and health, he stopped working during the term and instead relies on contractual work over the holidays. He told Canta, “financially it’s terrifying.”  

“There were always nights where I desperately needed to study, but I was committed to work,” he said.  

Will said he now works 80-hour weeks over summer. “I make $12,000 over the summer, and I have to live on that for a year.” 

Olivia said not working would be impossible. She told Canta, “If I’m still, I feel guilty.”  

Olivia is working during the term as a caregiver for a care and nursing bureau and gets distributed to Christchurch hospitals and rest homes on a casual contract, which adds a level of flexibility she is very grateful for. 

Even so, rent and power bills wipe out her student loan and living cost payments.  

One anonymous student told Canta that for them, working during the term is non-optional, but family, friends, and lecturers often treat work like a hobby, and not as a means of living. 

“It would be great if lecturers understood that for a lot of people work is a necessity. I have been told several times that work commitments are not an excuse for extensions and not attending class, but I genuinely wouldn’t be able to attend uni without working to pay my rent.”  

Of respondents to Canta’s survey, 45.5% said they had to work to manage expenses, 44.6% said they choose to work to supplement student loans, scholarships and living costs and 8.3% said they work to gain experience. 

The most valuable commodity in student life is time. Working eats away at that resource, eroding time with family, friends, and with yourself.  

Another student told Canta: “you can work minimum wage, and grind away those hours … [but it’s] not the most time effective way to make ends meet.”  

According to survey respondents 51.2% said working while studying can be sustainable, but it depends on the hours, the job and the flexibility it offers. 25.6% said no, most of the time working as a student is unsustainable and 23.2% responded other. A common theme was that the ability to work is fully dependent on the job, and course-load of the student.  

Without the pressure to work, most students told Canta they would enjoy the social side of university more and would dedicate more time to their studies. One student said they would love to be able to give their assignments the time they deserve, rather than pumping them out under last minute stress.  

With living costs seemingly in an exponential rise and showing no signs of slowing down, more students are working to support themselves. It seems unrealistic to expect have a job to not be a necessity for many – whether that be for work experience, or financial reasons.