According to HS’s student poverty survey, many students have had to rely on parents and relatives in the current economic situation. 20-year-old Monika doesn’t have that chance.
As a child Monika never dared to invite friends over to his house, because he was “shockingly embarrassed” by where his family lived.
Now at the age of 20, as a first-year student of food sciences at the University of Helsinki, he opens for me and the photographer To Sami Kero the door to his small student unit in Kaarela, Helsinki. We have arrived at her place, because Monika is one of the students who answered Helsingin Sanomat’s survey about student poverty.
“When my fellow students talk about restaurant dinners, ‘nauseating’ pizzas or wine at basic kebab places, then I feel different. I don’t know anything about wine,” says Monika.
The purpose of the survey was to map the impact of the current economic situation on students’ livelihoods. When talking with Monika, it quickly becomes clear that this frame is too narrow for the discussion.
In her case, you can’t talk about student poverty without talking about the poverty that has shadowed her entire life since the maternity hospital.
Monika does not appear in this story under her own name, because she feels that poverty is still a taboo in Finland. Monika is afraid that her parents will be ashamed.
Monika’s The studio is exceptionally located in a terraced house in a quiet residential area.
This may sound silly, but the apartment is very affordable for a studio: the rent for a 25-square-meter home rented from the Helsinki Region Student Housing Foundation (Hoas) is 405 euros per month. The price includes water and electricity. You can’t get a studio apartment from Hoas for much cheaper.
The apartment is clean. In addition to Monika, there lives a hairless rescue cat, Muša, who was brought from the eastern neighbor to Finland through a family acquaintance of Monika’s Russian mother.
The hairless rescue cat Muša came to Monika through her Russian mother’s family acquaintances.
It is said that Muša was beaten and treated badly as a puppy, but now the cat confidently jumps on my writing pad and stares fixedly with her emerald eyes.
“I have moved a total of 19 times in my life. When I was a child, we always had to move to a more affordable apartment than the previous one, and the homes were horrible messes. They either had a mold or rat problem. It was really difficult to make friends because of the constant moving.”
Monika says that both of her parents have been unemployed since she was born. Mother has never found work and has suffered from depression. Father is on sick leave. According to Monika, the family has always lived several thousand euros below Finland’s official poverty line.
The parents do not have a substance abuse problem. It has been safe at home, even though my father has remained distant.
“Many students are tight about money, but the attitude is still quite relaxed, because in a bad place parents help. For example, there is not so much concern about the time of graduation.”
Many the respondents also stated in the HS survey that without the occasional support of their parents or other relatives, they would be in trouble. Many say they had to use all their savings, sold their goods online or sold their shares.
The aim is to improve the financial situation by working while studying, even if the studies suffer from this.
Monika works differently. He does not work and this year takes out a loan of more than 5,000 euros every month, in addition to the 268 euros of study allowance and the 297 euros of housing allowance.
“I don’t want to borrow money from my mother, because she has to be able to afford food. I plan to graduate on time, because that way I have the opportunity to get a student loan refund from Kela.”
The student loan credit, which has been in effect since the fall of 2014, means that Kela pays part of the student loan of those who graduated within the deadline.
Childhood and the family’s financial situation have had a direct impact on what field Monika has ended up studying. He says that he already decided when he was in high school that he was going to find a well-paid job where he didn’t have to think about his livelihood or employment prospects.
“Because I like laboratory work at university, I plan to work as a quality inspector in the food industry. After I graduate, I would like to help my mother.”
Monika has decorated the walls of her home with pages she has cut out of old information books, which she thinks are really beautiful. “I’ve always liked the natural sciences,” says Monika.
Finns livelihood problems have been prominent due to accelerated inflation, energy prices and the growth of interest expenses.
Based on the survey, the increase in the price of food in particular has also had a great impact on the lives of students, as they typically have significantly less money available for everyday expenses than working Finns.
Based on the answers, the importance of affordable student food has been highlighted and the red-labelled products and the comparison of kilo prices and stores have become familiar.
One respondent says that he carries a Keep Cup with him at university, in which he puts porridge flakes at home and fetches boiling water from Unicafe. Another says that he will visit the food line if he has time from his lectures and that he will work for the student association for food pay.
Monika says that she has been used to eating the cheapest possible food since she was a child. As a student, food now costs around 215 euros a month.
“Sometimes I eat the same food for two weeks straight: burritos and frying pan lasagna, for example. I can’t eat noodles and penne pasta, I ate way too much of them in my childhood.”
Monika shows us her fridge. There you can find, for example, borscht soup that mother made for him, yogurts and lots of protein shakes. Like many others who responded to HS’s survey, Monika tries to go to the gym despite the financial situation.
“I try to eat healthy. Fruits are cheaper than vegetables, and I buy a lot of apples and bananas, because they are the cheapest of the fruits.”
Monika says that she goes grocery shopping with her mother once a month. Then we go to Lidl or Prisma.
“Cat food and dust-free special sand suitable for hairless cats must be bought from Prisma. Cat food costs about 40 euros a month.”
Student’s refrigerator. Monika’s fridge contains, for example, borscht soup made by her mother.
Monika’s the walls of the home are almost wallpapered with pages cut from old information books. Many of the pictures are black and white. They show, for example, the wonders of the seas and various plants.
“They are so beautiful,” Monika says and looks at the wall while lying on her bed with a smile.
“I have always liked natural sciences and chemistry.”
Monika says her mother has a humanist background. Mother swore that Monika should not go down that road.
“But he also didn’t think I would end up on an academic path at all.”
According to Monika, she had great difficulties at school before she was diagnosed with ADHD in middle school and received medication for it and was able to see a psychologist.
“Since then, my grades have been good. I already moved away from my parents when I was in high school, and Kela granted me basic income support as a minor.”
Besides rent, food, gym card, bus ticket, phone bill, medicine and cat food and accessories, Monika says she has no other big expenses.
He points to his gray leotards.
“I bought these in middle school. I wear clothes for so long that they have worn out or become small. Clothes cost about 70 euros in six months.”
The clothes can mainly be found at the Recycling Center, Punainen Risti Kontti stores or the Salvation Army flea market.
“Next winter, you have to buy a new winter jacket, because the previous one, bought in 2018, is too small.”
Monika’s in the apartment, next to the kitchen table, on the wall, in addition to information book pages, there is also something else: an old Lufthansa flight ticket.
“When I was 18, I was on a plane for the first time in my life, when my boyfriend paid for the trip. There had been a few cruises before that.”
Last summer, Monika’s mother also got to sit on a plane seat.
“At the age of 57. He had saved up for a really long time for that trip.”
Monika says she patched her sneakers with hot glue.
of HS the survey also received answers in which the students said that the current financial situation has not had a negative impact on their financial situation.
These students emphasized the importance of their own strict financial management, savings accumulated from working, “excelling” and, for example, minimizing housing costs: a cell apartment or roommate instead of a studio apartment.
From Hoas, you can get a cell apartment in Helsinki at the cheapest price of 196 euros.
Monika says that coming from a low-income family, she is used to the fact that she and her family “have been questioned” about the things they bought and their income status has been suspected.
“If we bought a bed, we immediately wondered if we were really poor. Also, receiving self-evident tips, for example in budgeting, can be really offensive,” he says.
“And if someone says that the poor and immigrants are lazy, I’m really blunt. Even a cleaner can live in poverty, even though he has a job.”
Monika emphasizes that although she is used to being penniless, it depresses her.
“I’m really worried about the way everything has become more expensive recently. In practice, I live on a student loan.”
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