US student debt squeezing families: Analysis
The crushing surge of college student debt in the United States, now over $1 trillion, is spanning multiple generations within American families, according to a new analysis.
The $1.2 trillion school loans increasingly belong to Americans over 40, which account for 35 percent of education debt, up from 25 percent in 2004, data analyzed by The Associated Press shows.
The disturbing new phenomenon is sinking parents, who are weighed down by their own college loans, deeper into debt, according to the AP analysis.
Student debt is surpassing food purchases as a primary expense for many borrowers, with the gap widening most for younger families.
The average college-educated parent under 40 owes over $400 a month in student debt payments.
Approximately 25 years ago, federal policies began to encourage borrowing on a vast scale to cover soaring university costs.
Policymakers figured that borrowers could afford the debt because graduating from college would all but guarantee comfortable incomes, but the reality turned out differently.
Experts say at no point in history has such a large share of the American population started their careers indebted.
"We've never had a historical era where so much debt was taken out at an early age," said Diana Elliott, research manager for financial security and mobility at Pew.
Repayment of school loans has increasingly required financial sacrifices because college borrowing has soared while earnings have stagnated for people with only a bachelor's degree, according to data by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University.
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