Student Loan Debt Is an Unheralded Burden for Older Borrowers
Americans 50 and over owe hundreds of billions for themselves, children
by John Waggoner, AARP, Updated March 8, 2021 |
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En español | The student loan debt crisis is not just a problem for the young. Of the $1.6 trillion in total student debt at the end of 2020, borrowers 50 and older owed about 22 percent of that amount, or $336.1 billion more than a five-fold increase from 2004.
Growing problem
The crisis has been hard on older households. In 1989, 3.1 percent of families headed by someone age 50-plus carried student loan debt, owing an average of $10,073. By 2016, 9.6 percent of families headed by someone age 50-plus carried student loan debt, with the average amount owed more than tripling to $33,053.