Blog
Parents Struggle to Pay for Student Debt and Child Care
August 8, 2019
America’s collective $1.5 trillion student debt burden is making young people wait to start a family, but even when they do, they are struggling to pay off their debt and pay for childcare.
In a new study from MIT, about one-fifth of Americans who have student debt said that it has a negative impact on their ability to provide or pay for childcare. Childcare is often a family’s largest monthly expense. The Center for American Progress estimates that American families pay on average $250 per week for childcare, which amounts to about 10 percent of their total income. Add to this a student loan payment, which averages $393 per month, and it becomes apparent how thin many young parents’ budgets are being stretched.
