Latest news with #financialdisparity
The Independent
11-08-2025
- Business
- The Independent
The ‘tax on being single' revealed in new survey
A new survey reveals that one in five young adults in the UK, aged 18 to 40, are choosing to live with a partner primarily to manage living costs more affordably. The research highlights a significant financial disparity, with single individuals less likely to have an emergency fund (29 per cent) compared to those in a relationship (16 per cent). Single savers put aside an average of £301 per month, which is roughly half the £609 saved by those in a relationship, underscoring increased financial strain for single people. Jim Islam, CEO of Lifetime Isa provider OneFamily, suggested that some individuals might be staying in unhappy relationships due to the high cost of living, describing it as a "tax on being single." Mr Islam stressed the importance of financial independence and good savings habits, advocating for these topics to be taught in schools to build financial resilience.
The Independent
10-08-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Young adults staying in relationships to make living costs affordable
One in five young adults, aged 18 to 40, are choosing to live with a partner primarily to make living costs more affordable, a new survey by Lifetime Isa provider OneFamily has found. Some 21 per cent of those surveyed reported making this decision. The research also highlights a significant financial disparity, with single individuals less likely to have an emergency financial cushion compared to couples. Nearly three in 10 (29 per cent) single young adults lack an emergency fund, compared with just 16 per cent of those in a relationship. Furthermore, single savers put aside an average of £301 per month – roughly half the £609 saved by those in a relationship. This underscores the increased financial strain often faced by single people in managing day-to-day living costs. OneFamily CEO Jim Islam said: 'These stats are shocking, people are potentially staying in unhappy relationships because the bills are too high to contemplate managing on their own. 'It's a tax on being single, made worse by the rising costs of bills.' Mr Islam, added: 'Financial independence is crucial, since it enables freedom. It needs to be something that is talked about in schools alongside good savings habits.' He said that 'building a savings pot absolutely supports financial resilience, which means less vulnerability to the ups and downs of life'. The financial company's report quoted 36-year-old Chris Singleton, who lives in Leeds with his partner Emma but had previously been renting by himself in recent years. Mr Singleton said: 'Now we're both contributing to our savings pot, it's a shared thing. At the moment our priority is saving to travel. Our next holiday is in September this year and we're also hoping to buy an old van to convert it.' Opinium carried out the research for OneFamily in February, among 3,000 people across the UK aged 18 to 40.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Outgoing LSU president calls for more investment in Southern University
A. O. Williams Hall on the campus of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge. (Photo courtesy Southern University) Outgoing LSU President William Tate, the first Black president of any SEC school, is calling for more investment in Southern University in a new paper analyzing the financial disparities between Louisiana's two land-grant universities. The analysis was written by Tate and Keena Arbuthnot, dean of LSU's Graduate School, who is also Black, and published in the William & Mary Law Review. 'Our financial risk analysis suggests that Southern University's financial situation warrants monitoring and more importantly, investment,' the authors write. Tate and Arbuthnot's article builds on a 2023 letter from former President Joe Biden's administration to 16 states with both predominantly white and historically Black land-grant universities, informing the states they have not lived up to their federal funding requirements and asking them to find ways to ease the disparity. The letter to then Gov. John Bel Edwards alleged Louisiana had shortchanged Southern University $1.2 billion over 30 years. Land grant universities were established in the 19th century by states that received federal property to create schools with a focus on teaching agriculture, science, engineering and military science. The first round of land grant universities, including LSU, were created in 1862. States that would not admit Black students to their land grant universities were required in 1890 to set up separate schools, which in theory should have been funded at an equal level. Louisiana did not want to integrate LSU, so Southern University was designated as a land grant institution. The schools receive additional federal benefits, but states must match certain funds with state dollars — a requirement that has not always been met. LSU's endowment at the end of the 2020-21 school year was over $700 million, while Southern's was around $12 million, a difference of more than $20,000 per student. LSU's total research expenditures in 2020-21 were around $230 million, while Southern's were just over $7 million. Between 2018-21, six of the 19 historically Black land-grant universities have received state matching money for federal dollars, as required by federal law. One of these schools was Southern. No predominantly white land-grant university had a problem getting the matching state funds they were owed. Tate and Arbuthnot's analysis take into account not just the requirements put to the states under the Morrill Acts, which created the land grant university system, but also the defunding of higher education during former Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration. From 2008-18, Louisiana's per student spending for higher education dropped 38%, with only Arizona having a more extreme funding reduction during that period. 'The disinvestment in higher education impacted LSU's financial health over the time horizon of our analysis, and the university experienced increased financial risk,' the two wrote. 'The financial risk status of both universities is inconsistent with the expansive opportunity agenda associated with the Morrill Acts and the hopes aligned with Brown-related litigation,' referencing the landmark Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision, which desegregated public schools. The analysis commends legislation from U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, who as a state senator sponsored legislation to create an economic development district for Southern University. The authors also praised state Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, who created a dedicated fund for deferred maintenance that is allowing Southern and other Louisiana schools to address their infrastructure needs. 'It is the current generation of leaders' moment to commit to a robust opportunity compact in support of 1890 institutions,' Tate and Arbuthnot conclude. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
