Three US generations are experiencing destructive student debt together

21 Sep 2018

Baby Boomers, Millennials and Gen-Xers in the US are all currently tied to a giant stone of student debt.

Debt continues to sink student bank accounts. Source: Giphy

According to a recent report by CBS News, “College debt in the US recently hit a new milestone, surpassing $1.5 trillion for the first time, while the cost of higher education continues to rise an average of 3 percent per year.”

This means that three generations now share the same issues in student debt.

As the report states, a survey made by the Association of Young Americans (AYA) and AARP found that more than a third of millennials and baby boomers are not able to buy homes due to the financial burden tied to their education.

Furthermore, a quarter of Gen-Xers are unable purchase cars thanks to the shadow of student loan repayment lurking overhead.

The article adds that, “findings are based on a survey of 5,000 adults. The average total student debt by generation among those who carried education loans was similar: $41,000 for millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) $39,000 for Gen-X (1965-1980) and $38,000 for boomers (1946 to 1964).”

AYA teamed up with @AARP to conduct an intergenerational survey on the impact of #StudentDebt on Americans.

We asked Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers about their struggles with student loans. What we found: student debt is crushing dreams. #ThreeGenSurvey https://t.co/cqKQ2Y2TIq pic.twitter.com/7SA4cQ57M3

— Young Americans (@AYAmericans) September 13, 2018

As a result of the impending student debt crisis in the US, many companies are using the situation to their advantage.

By promoting student loan repayment programmes, businesses are promising to ease the stress with a range of future-proof plans and schedules.

But some say that this will not eradicate the issue, and instead creates a distraction while extra dollars pile onto the loan repayment.

Over the last decade, the amount of outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has nearly tripled. Here’s one way a company is trying to help its employees manage that burden. https://t.co/GK6lf0U6mg

— Financial Planning (@finplan) September 16, 2018

Of course, this isn’t an issue US students are facing alone. Many other graduates from countries worldwide experience the very same dilemma as they struggle to pay off their education debt.

The real fear is that if there are no improvements to the global crisis of student debt, it may burden the next generation of starry-eyed students and the generations after that.

A never-ending circle of student debt isn’t great for anyone, especially if you’re looking to study, work and live in the US in the near future…