In just two months, the pause on federal student loan repayment will come to an end. Many borrowers are not financially prepared to resume payments due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, particularly women, who disproportionately shoulder two thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student loan debt.
Dr. Stella Flores, associate professor of higher education and public policy at The University of Texas at Austin.
The report concludes that, for economic equity, student debt should be cancelled across the board, $50,000 per borrower.
Sunny Glottmann, a researcher with CRL and co-author of the report, said that she and her fellow researchers wanted to understand how student loan balance impacted the finances and financial well-being of women as they “persist through an economic hardship.”
“We find that young people, especially young women of color, are now in a position where they are less able to build a life that has all the benefits of economic prosperity” said Glottmann. “Black and Latina women are working their tuchuses off to provide for their families and have no real promise of being able to get out from debt. And that is a really, really tough burden to bear.”
Dr. Stella Flores, an associate professor of higher education and public policy at The University of Texas at Austin, said that the results of this report should not come as a surprise due to the pre-existing racial and gender wealth gap in America.
“Owning a home and the transfer of wealth tends to pay for college and homes. For generations, Black and Latinx and Native Americans missed out on that opportunity to earn any wealth because of legal discrimination. It builds up,” said Flores. “The racial wealth gap is one of our biggest problems in this nation and an uncomfortable one. Certain groups had honors imposed on them because of race, that only whites and white men could earn the wealth that ultimately pays for education, housing, and health.”
