According to a report by Público, accommodation is “the expense with the greatest impact on the total costs of higher education students”, corresponding to 33.5% of the monthly amount, but other significant amounts are used to pay for food and transport.

The analysis of the living and study conditions of these students also revealed that more than 84% (around 762 euros) of that income is channelled towards expenses related to the “cost of living”. This indicator includes nine consumption categories: accommodation, food, transport, communication, health, childcare, debt repayment (except amortisations), social leisure activities and other common expenses.

Compared to previous editions of this survey, dependence on the family as the “main source of income” remains, with the average monthly amount of 898.4 euros coming from the family, which 96.3% of the 10,000 respondents depend on. The report also states that the parent’s level of education “is relatively significant in terms of the possibilities of support provided”, i.e. children of parents with low levels of education have less family income than children of parents with higher education.