Closed petition Count students as low-income households in Energy Finance Support Package

Closed on 15 December 2022

Given full time students are not entitled to claim means tested welfare benefits unless there are exceptional circumstances, students should count as low-income households to be eligible for more support from the Energy Finance Support Package. The £150 disability segment should go to those on DSA.

According to research from National Student Money Survey 2021 on average students receive £470 a month on maintenance loan. This deficit led to 41% of students to consider dropping out of uni. With the increased energy costs this is set to increase. Students currently work a significant amount of hours on top of full time courses to survive, this energy cost increase will make things worse. For this reason students should be included in the means tested element of energy fund support.