Describes the carefree, easy existence of moneyed young Brits; those teens and young adults supported entirely by unearned sources of income, esp. from parents/grandparents. Akin to the American "trust fund kid" existence,
stipend life does not necessarily require a large amount of money and can be achieved through some combination of mooching from relatives, expecting others (but never other
stipend lifers, as this would be taken as a sign of poverty) to finance things, borrowing heavily from family and occasional casual work (usually cut short by stipend lifers lack of motivation/discipline for anything not involving pleasure).
Stipend life involves being proudly out of touch with normality.
Stipend lifers bond by mocking ordinary, working people and their daily tribulations. Travelling must be in business or first class, if available, or private jet if stipend extends to this. Summers in luxurious resorts (e.g. Monaco, Cadaques, St. Tropez).
Time not spent entirely in the pursuit of pleasure is generally spent collecting degrees, travelling or engaging in some sort of exclusive hobby (e.g.
learning to fly, playing polo or motorsports) or working on some
vanity project.
Stipend life motto is, "A Mercedes, however acquired, is still a Mercedes", and the traditional shibboleth of of stipend lifers is, "Stipend life is good life".
Example:
"That kid is such a prat, but what do you expect, he lives
stipend life".
"I wish I had a stipend life, working at KFC is really shit".
"
Woo-hoo,
grandad's died, stipend life for me".
"He thinks working for minimum wage means living just off your main trust fund and doing no mooching, typical stipend lifer".