Freshers’ Week. It sounds so appealing, even to an uneducated counter-jumper like me who finds the word ‘uni’ so repellent that it’s right up there with ‘gusset’ and ‘spasm’. At British universities it mostly means drinking a lot of alcohol – our historical reaction to most situations – which may contribute to outbreaks of what is known as ‘Freshers’ flu’ in the first few weeks of the university term. But getting the lurgy is the least of the troubles bothering the student body nowadays as they head back to university this week. Thousands are going straight from their studies to long-term sickness, according to an alarming headline in the Times: ‘Students are one of the biggest contributors to rising economic inactivity, with deteriorating mental health a key factor’.
The general statistics around long-term unemployment are shocking, as we’re all aware now unless we’ve been sitting around watching daytime TV and mainlining Jammy Dodgers ever since the pandemic.
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