The average student loan debt and the average age of first marriage have increased in recent years, reports said.
Total student loan debt is now more than $1 trillion, with an average debt of $12,800 and the average age of first marriage has increased by about a year since 2007, according to a report by Bloomberg Businessweek on Wednesday.
Boston University professor of sociology Nazli Kibria said greater student loan debt is likely a part of the overall recession, but that financial insecurity among young adults may play a role in people’s decisions to marry later.
“People are anxious about how to pay off the loans, whether they’ll get a job, committing to a relationship, entering into a marriage – all those things are really connected, I think,” she said.
Kibria said more students might be taking additional loans to attend graduate school due to the weak job market.
“I’ve heard people kind of advising that now is not a good time to get a job, so what people might want to do is hunker down, take out the loans and go to graduate school,” she said. “It’s a good place to wait out the recession and get more credentials.”
Michelle Orozco, a College of Communication freshman, said she sees a correlation between student debts and marriage age since both assets and debts are combined when people get married.
“Everything becomes our debt, our expenses and it takes longer to pay off,” she said.
Orozco said it was good for young adults to have their debts settled and careers established before marriage.
“I think it’s definitely necessary to have your debt paid off [before marriage] because you get into more debt as you get married and have kids,” she said.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Eric Moller said debt was not so much a factor as people feeling ready to be married.
“It’s probably just a societal thing,” he said. “Compared to 50 years ago, we’re getting married a lot later.”
The marriage trend is not entirely unusual, Kibria said.
“At the same time, the trend [in increased marriage age] has been a long term one,” she said. “The median age has been creeping up for some time, so it’s not like it’s an anomalous trend.
“As peoples’ opinions change, there isn’t that obligation to quickly settle down.”
Corinne Burns, a CAS junior, said she doesn’t think the later marriage ages are connected to student loans.
“I don’t think it has to do with the debt,” Burns said. “People are focused on their studies, and focused on their careers and they want to have their careers set up before they have a family.”
Moller also said people do not necessarily need to settle their debts before marriage.
“I don’t think you have to, or that there’s any real reason to [settle your debts before marriage],” he said. “You’re going to be making as much money when you’re married as you would otherwise, so you’ll probably pay off the debts just the same.”
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