It was recently reported that the trade union Unison had claimed that many nurses in the United Kingdom are living in poverty, and that some of them are even using food banks.
While I don't doubt their findings, the fact remains that the starting salary for a nurse in this country is nearly forty percent higher than the minimum wage. In other words, many people in Britain earn less money than a nurse, and yet many of those people enjoy a lifestyle which is far from impoverished.
The point is that the cost of living in this country varies considerably, and is affected by such factors as whereabouts you live, what type of housing you occupy, and whether or not you have to travel to work.
For example, a person who lives in private rented accommodation in Greater London and travels a long distance to work will almost certainly have a much higher cost of living than someone who lives in social housing in a provincial city and walks to work.
When people argue the case for student loans, they often assert that the repayment of graduate debt is related to the ability to pay. This however is quite simply not true.
If the ability to pay means anything at all, then it must relate to your disposable income - the amount of money you are left with after deduction of taxes and your necessary cost of living. The repayment of graduate debt is based on how much you earn, and not on your disposable income, and so is not related to the ability to pay.
Related previous posts include:
Glamour model with student debt
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