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Student Debt Spans Generations: Characteristics of Parents Who Borrow to Pay for Their Children’s College Education

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  • Katrina M Walsemann
  • Jennifer A Ailshire

Abstract

Objectives: Discussions: of student debt often overlook the debt parents take on to pay for their children’s education. We identify characteristics of parents with child-related educational debt among the late baby boom cohort. Method: Data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a nationally representative sample of individuals born between 1957 and 1964. We restrict our sample to parents who had any children aged ≥17 and answered questions on educational debt during midlife (n = 6,562). Craggit models estimated (a) having any child-related educational debt and (b) the amount of debt owed among debtors. Results: Black parents and parents with more education, higher income, and higher net worth were more likely to report child-related educational debt than White parents and parents with no degree, low-income, or negative net worth. Among debtors, high-income parents had more debt than low-income parents. Discussion: Our findings suggest concerns about the student debt crisis should extend to aging parents.

Suggested Citation

  • Katrina M Walsemann & Jennifer A Ailshire, 2017. "Student Debt Spans Generations: Characteristics of Parents Who Borrow to Pay for Their Children’s College Education," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(6), pages 1084-1089.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:72:y:2017:i:6:p:1084-1089.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbw150
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stephanie Riegg Cellini & Claudia Goldin, 2014. "Does Federal Student Aid Raise Tuition? New Evidence on For-Profit Colleges," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 174-206, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Maude Pugliese & Céline Le Bourdais & Shelley Clark, 2021. "Credit Card Debt and the Provision of Financial Support to Kin in the US," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 616-632, December.
    2. Congrong Ouyang & Sherman D. Hanna & Kyoung Tae Kim, 2019. "Are Asian Households in the U.S. More Likely than Other Households to Help Children with College Costs?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 540-552, September.

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    Keywords

    Income; Race/ethnicity; Wealth;
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