Literature Review
Houle, J. (2014). Disparities in debt: parents’ socioeconomic resources and young adult student loan debt. Sociology of Education, 87(1), 53-69. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxysuf.flo.org/stable/43186798
This essay by Jason Houle provides a specific look on student debt for young adults today, and how it is affected by their and their parents’ socioeconomic status. The author details how the link between parents’ income and student loans is nonlinear; middle-class students are facing higher loans than those of lower-class. Further, he gives a history to how some of this situation has come to pass: where the cost of college has significantly risen, grant-based aid has not been risen to off-set these changes. To make up the difference, students are being forced to take out loans. Houle also mentions how student loans are now one of the most common forms of financial aid, and how student has now risen above $1 Trillion – more than credit card debt. Houle’s essay gives great insight into the background of today’s student debt issue, and how the socioeconomic status of students and their families is affecting the issue.
This information is related to my topic in that it relates to my position as a student specifically: I come from a middle class family, and where my parent’s finances cover some of the cost of my college education, I must use loans to make up the difference. What I learned that was surprising was that middle-class students can actually be facing more loans than that of the lower class; while I do not want loans to be forced on those less fortunate, it was still surprising information. Further, where college tuition has risen significantly in past years, the economy of the middle class has stayed stagnant – which means that college tuition is putting a higher strain on the economy of the middle class as a whole. This leads me to question how student debt may affect the middle-class, and as more millenials and young adults approach adulthood, how student debt is affecting life in the middle class.
Houle, J., & Berger, L. (2015). Is student loan debt discouraging homeownership among young adults? Social Service Review, 89(4), 589-621. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.ezproxysuf.flo.org/stable/26463019
This essay, also by Houle as well as L. Berger, focuses on the perceived issue between having student debt and the decrease in home-ownership for young adults. This essay describes the correlation that many believe there to be – that students with a lot of debt may not wish to take on more debt in the form of owning a home, or may not even be eligible to own a home due to their debt. They mentions how student loan debt had doubled from 2007 to 2011; later on, they also mentions how debt may play a role in reinforcing or exacerbating inequalities in home-ownership by race, gender, or family background. With this, the authors mention that youth from disadvantaged backgrounds and black youth tend to have greater student loan debt burdens than their more affluent white counterparts, and they are less likely to enter into home-ownership. This essay studies many different factors of student debt and home-ownership, and examines the issue from many different angles.
This essay is related to my topic in that it relates to student debt and the life goals of students entering adulthood, and how it is seemingly an increasingly challenging field to navigate with student debt. Something this study brought up that surprised me was that the recent decrease in home-ownership of young adults may just be coincidentally aligned with student debt, and that there are other factors that may be affecting home-ownership instead. One thing that this study brought up that I would like to pay more attention to is the difference of backgrounds affecting student loans: Houle and Berger mention that youth from disadvantaged backgrounds and black youth tend to have greater student loan debt burdens than their white counterparts, and I think this is a very important distinction in the study of student debt for all young adults.
Bozick, R., & Estacion, A. (2014). Do student loans delay marriage? Debt repayment and family formation in young adulthood. Demographic Research, 30, 1865-1891. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxysuf.flo.org/stable/26348260
Bozick and Estacion have conducted their study in an effort to explore the trend of increasing levels of student loan debt, and how it affects the path to economic stability compared to earlier generations of college graduates. They also assess whether or not this student loan debt may affect or influence family formation. Generally, they are asking if student loan debt is delaying marriage in young adults, whether the relationship between loan debt and marriage differs for women and men, and if this relationship has decreased during the years immediately following college graduation. They conclude that the dynamics of loan repayment are related to marriage timing for women, but not for men – so that student loan debt is affected women and family formation more than men.
This information is relevant to my topic is it, too, reflects on the impact student debt is having on the way young adults are proceeding with life and navigating adulthood. What I learned that was surprising is that student debt is affecting marriage immediately following college graduation – this was not an issue that I had thought to investigate. I do wonder, though, if this study takes into account other factors that may affect the delay of marriage for women exiting college; are any societal factors altering this decision? Could the act of earning an education/degree and entering a career be altering marriage for women? While it is an interesting study that contributes to the general feeling of student debt affecting millennials and young adults, it raises a lot of questions about societal impacts as well.