Michelle Bagnall talks 'placement poverty'

In the eighties, the hashtag #placementpoverty may not have been a 'thing' but it absolutely existed.

The idea of #placementpoverty may not have been trending, but the concept of 'haves' and 'have nots' was very real!

As my eldest child heads off to university as a first-year student, she goes knowing that she has the full support of her family behind her. She, and many other university students, will hopefully begin to live her best life at university knowing that we are there to provide a home, food and whatever support she needs. 

Her situation could not be more different to my own.

^{Michelle Bagnall 2008 Masters graduate, mum and wife.}

I came from a loving family who gave me the two gifts of education and expectation but genuinely couldn’t afford to give us much more.  By the age of 18 I was out of home, working to pay for my own rent and not returning to university until I was 23 and in full-time work.