450 euros/month are actually a serious amount for many in this glorious Eu. I am not getting how you arrived at the "also had some mental struggles" conclusion; could it not be that his mental struggles were 'just' about not having enough money to sort of keep existing?
Well, as I said, €450/month isn't terribly much less than what Norwegian students get to sustain themselves, and I'm generally informed that Norway is up in the top when it comes to cost of living in Europe. Still, self-immolation is practically unheard of here -- and it's not common anywhere else in Europe either. Living on less than €500/month isn't luxurious, but by sharing homes with others it tends to work.
So yes, I'd certainly say there were some extraneous causes involved. Most likely mental health issues.
On the same logic, I wonder why so many migrants into Europe seem to remain desperate to cross the channel into England, instead o of staying in France. Don't they read he predictions of doom for he UK as it voted for brexit and entered the process of leaving? That they are already supposed to be economically withering?
Why do so many risk (and often lose!) their lives trying to reach it specifically?
That's mostly cause of existing family there, English being more widely known, and/or the UK being easier to live and work illegally in, isn't it? I.e. people go where they have better opportunities?
On student loans, i think that the situation in Europe is worsening. But it is not just the loans, the difficulty with sustaining oneself while studying. It's several other facts combined:
1. You're virtually unemployable in any job regarded as "good", thrown into competing with immigrants for temporary jobs, if you cannot make it into a university education.
2. Cost of living in major cites, including those cities with universities, has risen much faster than incomes. Landlords in particular are squeezing people for everything that can be squeezed. The EU, with zero razes but no monetization of public debt, chose the path of real estate speculation and the price is being paid by the poorer portion of its population.
3. "Flexible labour rules", which mean the generalized scrapping of labour protections, has made younger people hopeless of ever finding stability. This effect is notorious in the fall of formation of households, of the birth rate.
You are privileged to live in a country that has not yet suffered much of these three effects. The are many millions of people living with no hope of a better future for themselves. That is soul crushing. Which, I believe, is an intended effect.
We should try to keep our topics clear, I think. Your first point goes more to the real/perceived need of getting a university degree these days, and not on the difficulty of sustaining oneself while studying. Same with the third point, I'd say.
On the second point, I agree that the cost of living when it comes to rent has increased faster than other costs. This is very unfortunate and has many causes, most of them willed. So for this reason alone it would be reasonable to expect financial support for students to have increased. I'm, not surprisingly I'm sure, not following your argument that this can be blamed on the EU, however. It seems to be a general trend throughout the world, from Japan, Korea, and China in the east, to the US, Canada, and Mexico in the west. With or without the EU, the neoliberal policies have been in charge for the last four decades or so. There's no reason to assume that entering or leaving the EU or its Single Market will make much difference (for the UK, there might be a difference in getting Corbyn as a PM, but again, the vast majority of his policies can be achieved while remaining in the EU as well).
Talking about work in general, it's true that university degrees have been touted as the most important piece to having a good life. Though while there's certainly something to it, skilled tradesmen can still make quite a lot of money. At least in Norway (and the other Nordic countries, and also Germany, afaik) these only require a four-year vocational high school diploma, and for many, the pay can be comparable to what others can get with a bachelour degree.
Not that this is a perfect situation, but I just like to point out that there are alternatives which do not require major political upheavals, and which can make life better for many.
As for labour rules, they need to be strengthened. Especially the rules surrounding part time work and the «gig» economy.
