By Jarosław Adamowski
A rising number of UK students are turning to investing in cryptocurrencies to finance their living costs. Since last year, the share of students who make money from crypto has tripled from 2% to 6%, according to a recent survey by British financial advice website Save the Student.
The National Student Money Survey 2021 polled 2,038 university students in the UK between May and August 2021. The obtained results indicate that 76% of the surveyed UK students worry about making ends meet, an increase from 71% in last years survey. On average, students face monthly living costs of GBP 810 (USD 1,120), forcing many of them to seek additional sources of income through side hustles or small businesses.
The latest increase came despite the fact that a lower share of students engaged in side activities or businesses to make a living, compared with the previous year. Among students included in the survey, 40% said they had made money from their own business or side hustle, down from 43% who had given the same reply last year.
“There has been a lot of media attention this year about the growing number of new investors getting involved in trading crypto, as the likes of bitcoin and ethereum experienced a boom in the market,” the site said, commenting on the surveys results.
“With a growing proportion of students saying that theyre investing in cryptocurrencies, its evident that young people need to receive clear, balanced information about crypto to ensure theyre making careful financial decisions,” according to the survey.
Among students who declare to have a part-time job, the average amount they earn is GBP 404 per month.
“Despite the proportion of students with a part-time job going down, the amount that students in work are earning from their job has gone up, increasing from GBP 326 per month in 2020,” the site said.