Heavy Student Loan Debt Forces Many Millennials to Delay Buying Homes - Miranda Farrar

Student loan is steadily rising, and it has risen to $1.5 trillion. This is affecting the ability of millennials to buy homes. From 2005 to 2014, homeownership rates of people ages 24 to 32 has dropped nine percentage points. Many millennials are incredibly concerned, especially when they compare themselves to previous generations. Baby boomers were able to buy houses by the age of 25, and now millennials are waiting till age 35. This is also due to many millennial staying in school longer, delaying marriage, and having children later. People earning higher incomes have an easier time balancing the debt. Those with degrees often earn higher incomes, but many are taking longer to earn their degrees and some don't finish school.

This article, although I didn't write about them, included two millennials speaking about their experiences with homes and jobs. Overall, they didn't seem to be satisfied with their situations. One has a child on the way and is renting a place, and the other is living with her parents due to being laid off. They both are starting/want to start families, but are encountering obstacles due to their spiraling debt. The article seemed optimistic, saying that millennials will be homeowners, it'll just be a delayed process for them compared to their parents. This doesn't seem satisfactory to those actually going through it. In addition, those who are unable to get a degree are suffering greatly, as they are unable to earn a high enough income to pay off their debts, much less buy a house. In the Gilded Age, the working class struggled as the cost of living went up, a similar situation to today's millennials.

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/01/689660957/heavy-student-loan-debt-forces-many-millennials-to-delay-buying-homes