I have a good job but can’t afford rent anymore – so I commute 230 miles from my parents’ house by plane & train
A STRUGGLING academic says she can’t afford rent anymore – so will commute 230 miles by plane and train to work.
Dr Jennifer Cassidy, a lecturer in diplomatic studies at Oxford University, was working three jobs to get by in the studious city.
But after 12-years, “heartbroken” Jennifer has moved back in with her parents in Dublin, Ireland.
She told : “There’s no other way I would have been able to afford to live [in Oxford] on the salary alone.
“I have a roof over my head, food to eat, I have a job, I get to commute… but it hurts, I wanted to stay.”
Oxford has an average rent of £1430 per month, according rental experts Rentoo.
The national average for a room is £700, according to figures obtained by .
Jennifer, 36, spent seven years with a supplementary income as an assistant dean at one of the colleges.
But it meant she had to be on shift from 7pm til 7am three nights a week – leaving her struggling.
Jennifer – who does not drive – will now fly to Birmingham from Dublin and travel by train to Oxford three days every fortnight.
She will cover all her face-to-face lectures on these days and work remotely the rest of the time.
The academic will stay with a pal in London in between university commitments.
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