Low wages negatively affect quality of life for college students By Desiree Pena
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Penn Foster College *
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Communications
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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Desiree Pena, Student ID: 23883138, Exam number: 355106,
1
11865 Spruce Run Drive. Apt B, Desireepena@live.com
The phrase “college student” often brings an image of a young adult in a college dorm eating the cheapest food possible and partying in school, but frequently it hides an ugly truth behind the scenes. Many students cannot afford meals, lodging, and basic healthcare needs and are dropping out from low minimum wages, rendering them unable to access those basic needs and housing and lowering their emotional well-being. Even with scholarships and grants, students suffer physically and emotionally from the long-term effects of low minimum wage at part-time and full-time hours, especially if a student must take out any loans. Despite some students having access to scholarships given by nonprofit and private organizations or grants, a form of financial aid that needs to be repaid, many students cannot rely on those to survive. The ones who do not qualify for those depend on loans to pay for their courses and still need to secure lodging and nutrition if they opt for the bare minimum; this can lead to can ultimately lead to a student dropping out from financial strain to seek full-time hours to meet those needs.
Some of the basic human needs comprise food and shelter, both of which can prove to be a challenge for students to afford, which in turn causes a lot of financial strain that can ultimately
encourage students to drop out in search of a job to stabilize their income. The data in a report called "Mission Critical: The Role of Community Colleges in Meeting Students' Basic Needs" shed light on how food and housing began during the recent pandemic for community college students. The Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin ran a survey amongst the students that asked them if they did not have enough food to last
throughout the month and concluded that 46% of Hawaiian and Pacific natives as well as 43% Black and African, and 41% American and Alaskan Indian had no income to buy more food. (June, 2022) Food access is a basic need, and for so many students on a single college campus to run out of it causes more issues than hunger. The increased appetite from still growing youth
Desiree Pena, Student ID: 23883138, Exam number: 355106,
2
11865 Spruce Run Drive. Apt B, Desireepena@live.com
impacts academic performance immensely, and the same psychological problems addressed previously come with lower grades. There are a few resources that some students may qualify for, such as food stamps, but for those who do not meet the requirements, their options are very few, and they rely heavily on food banks or friends and family if they have them. Fortunately, many college students can get jobs to supplement their income, though it may be a factor in the disqualification of food stamps. While this income may seem like enough to supplement their income to provide access to food, it is limited due to rising rent increases, health needs, or any other emergency that may pop up. From the same survey above, out of the 62% of surveyors that
responded, about one in four were unable to ultimately pay their rent in full for the whole year with the same amount unable to pay utilities. (June, 2022) Inflation has caused rent to skyrocket, and every year seems to bring higher monthly rates, driving many students to do things such as couch surf or even resort to homeless shelters. In a different survey of college students by the Free Application of Student Aid, there are at least 58,000 homeless students across America, and many others do not have stable housing. Many of students also have trouble with transportation, and according to the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, of its 10% estimate of homeless students, about two-fifths report failing grades (Broton & Goldrick-Rab, 2014).
All this financial strain can quickly reduce the quality of life when the minimum wage is low. Still, financial stress can also lead to severe mental illnesses that can cause depression, anxiety, and stress issues, leading to more students dropping out. In the previous studies at the Government College University in Faisalabad, the students’ distress tolerance stimulated the level of the stressors and produced anxiety symptoms. The severity caused emotional problems and an unstable mood and reflected emotional and behavioral issues. When the students had varying characteristics, they showed signs of depression. Nearly a fourth of the medical and
Desiree Pena, Student ID: 23883138, Exam number: 355106,
3
11865 Spruce Run Drive. Apt B, Desireepena@live.com
engineering students perceived depression, impacting their academic performance and daily lives. These psychological problems are generally higher in students than in the public, and the rates are even higher for dropout students (Abbas et al. 2023). This mental strain can lead to higher dropout rates due to the increased stress that encourages them to drop out instead of continuing education. Students who do not have access to family or friends for help with emergencies will have to rely on getting an entry-level job and utilizing government support. They could also be relying on student loans that they need to make payments on, which may drive them to drop out due to their inability to make ends meet with a low minimum wage. The added stressors of the physical job, scheduling time for studying between classes and work, and getting those welfare resources can lead to the belief that they need to advance in their career to get by therefore dropping out of college. Some of the social welfare programs that studies may or
may not be qualified for are Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and General Assistance (GA). Still, unless students have a disability, SSI is not an option. If a student decides to obtain aid, the hoops they will have to jump through may also lead to more mental distress and affect their daily lives in other ways. On top of that, the social stigma of getting government aid may be stressful or humiliating, which can further drive a student to abandon school to make their way in the world without that help.
Alternatively, a low minimum wage has no bearing on whether a student will drop out because young adults have many resources at their disposal to succeed in life. The argument that financial burden negatively affects a student does not always mention the welfare programs, like SSI, SNAP, GA, state-run health welfare programs, and student loans, which are legitimate ways to help the starving college student. Those students still have other resources, including the previously mentioned ones, such as food banks and other charity programs in their city to help
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Desiree Pena, Student ID: 23883138, Exam number: 355106,
4
11865 Spruce Run Drive. Apt B, Desireepena@live.com
alleviate their financial burden. According to statistics gathered by CollegeAtlas using 2475 students, they gathered data on the influence of financial stress. One of the results determined that the students that reported the largest amount of accrued student loads were the least likely to drop out compared to students who carried no debt (Britt et al. 2017). It can be deduced that the burden of the student loan made the student more dedicated to following through with their education than the debtless student who had no obligation to continue schooling since they had no debt to pay off. Student loans do not require the entire balance to be paid off, so getting a part-time job will help them financially and physically if necessary. They help students learn to manage their time more efficiently, learn more life skills, and maintain more lasting friendships with their coworkers. Another resource overlooked is the school counselor; the financial counselor can help students learn more about properly managing their finances, while a guidance
counselor can help with education about managing stress and recommending how to address more serious mental issues. If students cannot access medical insurance through their parents or workplace, mental wellness can be addressed using their state’s low-income health insurance and
other health concerns. Also, when factoring in frivolous spending, many luxuries are not necessary for survival that can be eliminated by practicing healthy spending habits, such as eating out or buying coffee every day. There are many places where you can get cheap cookware and appliances that can simplify cooking in a dorm, such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army or Walmart, if an essential item such as a coffee maker is unavailable in those locations. There are also third-party applications such as Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp, to locate the most indispensable items. The habit of learning to live within a person’s needs is vital to any young person’s education, and living frugally is equally important to ensure a student's success at any wage they may receive.
Desiree Pena, Student ID: 23883138, Exam number: 355106,
5
11865 Spruce Run Drive. Apt B, Desireepena@live.com
To summarize all previous statements, minimum wage affects students in such a way that it is driving them to drop out of school due to problems with their mental health, housing stability, and access to basic needs such as food. In addition, the few government assistance programs that exist only sometimes provide enough support to students during college to ensure their success. These students do not have other means to survive and face the difficult decision to
end their education career and join the workforce or to find any different way of supplementing their income to access the necessities. On the other hand, financial stress does not affect what drives a student to drop out since there are many options to supplement income. There are many government welfare programs and counselors for advice, financial support, and the mental strain a student may have. These experts can help students build budgets and reduce irrelevant expenses to maintain a livable lifestyle.
As all the above points have demonstrated, students struggle with minimum wage jobs, affecting all aspects of their daily lives, from mental wellness to food and housing security. That struggle ultimately becomes a massive driving force for the ever-increasing dropout statistics. Minimum wage and government welfare are inadequate to provide enough income and support for students to survive and are also not dependable due to other factors. When the future workforce cannot thrive, it poses the question of how other people survive on even less government support and if this can lead to more significant problems. While the future remains uncertain, humanity's goals have always been to progress and grow, but with other priorities elsewhere, the people in need are forced to make do with what they can get a hold of. A higher minimum wage should be a higher issue to make the lives of our children to be better than what previous generations have had before, and the least we can do is to create a livable wage for them so they can thrive and flourish into a future that is focused on a lot filled with this in mind.
Desiree Pena, Student ID: 23883138, Exam number: 355106,
6
11865 Spruce Run Drive. Apt B, Desireepena@live.com
References
Abbas, Qasir, et al. "Distress tolerance, anxiety-related symptoms, stress, and depression among dropout and non-dropout university students: a mediation analysis." Journal of Pakistan Medical Association, vol. 73, no. 4, 30 Apr. 2023, p. 882. Gale Academic OneFile Select, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A743304644/EAIM?u=edirect_gvrl&sid=bookmark-
EAIM&xid=167b4605. Accessed 24 July 2023.
Britt, S. L., Ammerman, D. A., Barrett, S. F., & Jones, S. (2017). Student Loans, Financial Stress, and College Student Retention. ERIC Institute of Education Sciences. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1141137
Broton, K., & Goldrick-Rab, S. (2014, February). The Problem of College Students Without Reliable Housing. Scholars Strategy Network. https://scholars.org/sites/scholars/files/ssn_key_findings_broton_and_goldrick-
rab_on_housing_insecurity_and_college_students_1_0.pdf
June, Audrey Williams. "Students Struggle to Meet Basic Needs." The Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 69, no. 5, 28 Oct. 2022, p. 11. Gale Academic OneFile Select, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726743244/EAIM?u=edirect_gvrl&sid=bookmark-
EAIM&xid=ba627e87. Accessed 24 July 2023.
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