Student Allowances January – December 2021
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For this report, a student is defined as a person who received at least one payment from StudyLink in the calendar year, up to the end of the specified reporting month.
The data in this report are cumulative calendar year-to-date figures. All percentages are computed using actual data and rounded to the nearest one decimal point. Total percentages may not add up to exactly 100 percent because of rounding effects. The last three years of data and annual comparisons are presented in summary tables. Earlier figures are included in the downloadable Excel files.
Allowances paid
The proportion of single students living away from home increased
The weekly rates for Student Allowance are based on the personal and family circumstances of students, e.g. age, income of the student (and their partner if they have one), parent/s income for students aged under 24 years, relationship status, and other circumstances.
From January to December 2021, 25.2 percent of SA recipients were single students who were living away from home. This proportion was 1.8 percentage points higher when compared with January to December 2020.
Number of recipients based on personal and family circumstances
| Student allowances | January to December | Annual change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | |
| Students with parental-income tested allowance, living at home | 14,499 | 13,683 | 13,419 | -5.6% | -1.9% |
| Students with parental-income tested allowance, living away from home | 18,984 | 18,456 | 18,510 | -2.8% | 0.3% |
| Single students living at home | 3,357 | 3,456 | 3,753 | 2.9% | 8.6% |
| Single students living away from home | 13,908 | 14,448 | 15,855 | 3.9% | 9.7% |
| Single students with child/children | 5,277 | 4,539 | 3,765 | -14.0% | -17.1% |
| Students in a relationship without a child/children | 2,172 | 2,187 | 2,286 | 0.7% | 4.5% |
| Students in a relationship with a child/children | 2,949 | 3,048 | 3,114 | 3.4% | 2.2% |
| Independent Circumstances Allowance and accommodation | 1,353 | 1,902 | 2,106 | 40.6% | 10.7% |
| Total number of recipients | 62,499 | 61,722 | 62,814 | -1.2% | 1.8% |
