Changes in Student Allowances in 2008

Accommodation benefit

Students eligible for student allowances can also apply for an accommodation benefit. The proportion of accommodation benefit recipients among student allowances holders is generally quite high.  It reached a maximum of 79 percent in 2004.  However it dropped 5 percentage points by 2007 and fell a further 4 percentage points to 70 percent in 2008.  All groups of students have contributed to the decrease in the accommodation benefit uptake since 2004, most notably single students aged 25 years and over (54 percent) and single students under the age of 25 years (20 percent).

The decrease in the accommodation benefit uptake rate observed since 2004 may result from a marked increase in rental prices, which were not completely reflected in the regional adjustments made to the accommodation benefit rates.  The drop in accommodation benefit uptake may mean that students are more likely to continue living with their parents during their tertiary study than to live away from home.
The average annual accommodation benefit was about $900 in 2004.  It increased to $1,000 in 2006 and to $1,100 in 2008.

Figure 11: Uptake in accommodation benefit¹⁶

Table 7:  Average  annual allowance by component

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Main allowance	$5,400	$5,300	$5,500	$5,400	$5,300
Accommodation benefit	$900	$1,000	$1,000	$1,100	$1,100
Average annual allowance (total)	$6,100	$6,100	$6,300	$6,200	$6,000

Footnote

16. Note that the Y-axis starts at 65 percent.