Student debt is delaying life choices and hurting relationships.
So says EdAssist, a company that helps organizations turn tuition assistance and student loan repayment programs into strategic investments, who recently conducted a survey of 1,024 Americans 18 years and older that have some amount of student loan debt.
As expected, student debt has had its effect on the millennial generation by delaying life milestones. The survey reported that 50 percent of people with student debt have been held back from purchasing a house, 21 percent of people are struggling to start a family, and 78 percent of survey-takers said student loans have affected their ability to save for retirement.
EdAssist’s survey also shows that student debt has had major effects on marriage. 77 percent of people said that student loans have negatively affected a personal relationship. More specifically, 49 percent of people surveyed said that they would delay marriage or engagement because of student debt, and 33 percent of people said they would be reluctant to marry someone who also shares the same burden of student loan debt.
Student loan debt has also caused people to bypass furthering their education. 85 percent of survey takers said that they would like to pursue higher-level degrees, but doing so would add even more student debt to their plates so they choose not to. 49 percent of people said that student debt has prevented them from pursuing their dreams, such as a career in medicine, because of the additional degrees needed and the additional student debt that would result from continuing their education. 58 percent reported that student debt forced them to choose job opportunities that paid the most, rather than jobs that they were passionate about.
While many assume that the burden of student debt is only felt by younger generations in the early stages of adulthood, EdAssist’s findings show that in actuality, the burden of student loans also affects older generations. 65 percent of Baby Boomers still carry student debt and 73 percent of Gen Xers are still affected by student loan debt.
Perhaps the most fascinating finding of this EdAssist survey on student debt is the differing effects student debt has on men and women. Millennial women are 50 percent more likely than men to feel a sense of defeat by the burden of student loans and consequently, more women feel the need to defer payments or use their spare time to find a second job. However, despite the effects of student debt on women, more men felt that their career choices were limited by student debt.
While many people often see college as a stepping-stone to a promising future, the baggage of student debt that comes with a college education provides many challenges for college graduates. Student debt is a setback for people in more ways than many people are aware of. The negatives of student debt have been brought to the forefront of politics recently with leading presidential candidates proposing plans to make college more affordable. Student debt and college affordability could significantly affect the 2016 presidential election from this point forward.
