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This is pretty specific to millenials in the USA...
In Australia for citizens, the government subsidises around 75-80% of the cost of university, loans are through the government and are interest-free (just indexed for inflation once per year), and payments are based on income - no payment required at all if you're earning less than AU$51k/year, and payment rates vary between 1% of your income at $51k/year to 10% of income for $151k/year or higher.
Yeah, here nearly all education is completely free and they even pay you (not a lot but still). You can also take a loan from the government with very low interest and until recently literally zero interest.
Some people even take the loan and put the money in a savings account and make a profit.
This is pretty specific to millenials in the USA
UK too at the very least, though I'm sure there are other places this applies, too (yes, uni used to be free here, but the cost has been steadily increasing, as has the necessity of a student loan to attend).
More specifically, millennials in the US that decided to go to a big name school instead of a local community college.
Community colleges only offer up to associate's degrees. If you happen to live in a state where they got bumped up to colleges that offer bachelor's, then maybe, but those tend to have limited 4-year degrees and aren't going to really help anyone land lucrative jobs. A person with a 4-year degree from Orange County College will likely get passed up for a person with a degree from State University.
Master's and doctorate's are only given at universities and their tuitions are typically at least 3 times more per credit. Those include nurse educators, therapists, social workers, public school teaching managers, public administrators, non-profit managers, professors, historians, sociologists, community organizers, ... basically any type of specialized public servant and social scientist that makes okay middle-class income is going to be in significant student debt while also coming out of school later. Lots of these don't even get to start making the okay income until several years of experience in the field. Also, just because a teacher has a master's degree doesn't mean there's a public school manager position available, and when there is, it's going to be a competitive hiring process where many will apply but only one gets hired.
That means that many people don't achieve these positions until their 30s. By that time, they've likely been paying very little into their student debt, possibly allowing interest to accrue and increase the amount owed. Once they make enough to actually start decreasing the principle, they're also getting a home loan and start raising children, which is even more expenditure. Being a lower- to middle- class millennial and younger with a goal of tertiary education is practically an unaware commitment to being a debt slave.
Yeah I'm Canadian and I paid off my student loans a couple of years after finishing Uni. I did live at home for school though which kept my costs down.
I lived at home too. That's pretty common in Australia.
My country's economy is so far down the drain hole we didn't even have loans until last month, the banks were only loaning to the government because it paid better
But hey at least we have public universities
Which country do you live in?
I want to say Argentina as real house/department mortgages are being offered from 90k USD up to 250k USD, some rare cases have no limits on the amount. Those weren't available since 2017/2018 and now, because of the new government lowering of interest rates to the central bank, banks have to work like banks, loaning to people to earn on those interests instead of having the central bank work for them printing money like in the previous government
Curiously the same happened in Venezuela last month as well. Now banks are loaning for vehicles and house renovations, about 2k USD to 10k USD, Venezuela's case is more about USD being from years now the de facto currency by the people's decision. Banks save the government now want to start keeping customers/people as there is nothing much tying venezuelans to a dying currency such as the Bolivar.
The differences in amounts are staggering tho
Yep, we were headed straight to become the next Venezuela. Only time will tell if we really avoided it or not, things seem to be looking up but we've been fucked over multiple times before
I ride the same boat as you my friend. Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
I knew about student loans for the first time until I checked on YNAB subreddit (a spending managing app/website, in short) and seeing many users had a Student Loan category lol.
I only have a bachelor's degree, I'm in Europe so no dept, I made enough right after college to live on my own. I definitely don't need to get a second job or move in with my parents. What am I doing wrong?
Not enough radical activism to save the species?
(This is also a self-criticism)
No amount of radical activism will significantly change the political landscape in most EU nations. In fact, the activism is on the rise, and yet far right is winning big time. Soon in your EU parliament and bye-bye combustion cars ban. Expect abortion bans instead. And we aren't even talking about the fact that most pollution now happens in countries that would be impossible to change to sincere green policies. Although the EU supply chain initiative is a step in the right direction, and yet just a drop in the bucket.
Your species are gone. And so are about a few billions of people in the developing world. The timer is some 10-30 years (90% prediction interval).
Exactly what am I supposed to do? My radical proposal is we develop some infertility drug and start putting it into the waterways. Do you know enough biochemistry? I'll be the driver. On a different topic, instead of recycling my plastic bottles, I shredd them and flush them into the toilet. In the name of humanity and species diversity.
Honestly, and in many ways personally i feel like what we really should do is stop caring about the economy and start caring about our neighborhoods again.
I originally wrote we should literally collapse the economy and stop going to work but as you read below my reasons that could work counts on people like myself not doing that.. so far how my feelings translate to my reality i become a hypocrite...
I know many people who work in varying public services. Hospitals, schools, government. All, me included, vouch we would still try to perform the spirit if not the law of our jobs even if we are not paid or there is a complete government collapse.
Too many people are stuck dedicated all their time and energy to the pure profit of private industry. They often contribute nothing for the society around them except taxes that can be mishandled by elected celebrities.
Don't get me wrong me being pro public services and anti private industry, working with government. I am not pro centralized government. On the contrary down with our leaders. Not because there evil but because they are human. Placing a select team of corruptible humans at the helm of powers can only ever be a temporary system.
I believe once we have eliminated the distractions.
for profit business (which exploits common wealth on principle)
centralized leaders (who cannot possibly understand the nuance and reason of every community)
We can finally free up the workforce for what really matters. Building healthy thriving and most importantly sustainable communities for our children. Self organize, similar like we once did as tribe but with a major difference.
“A global consciousness”, advanced knowledge and technology, the ability to share and communicate information anywhere in the world. Learning from eachother, helping eachother.
Yeah, besides debating the topic here to raise general awareness, who knows really what we should do?
Same here. Went to trade school, working at construction since I was 21, bought my first car around the same time, bought house at 25. Now at 30+ I got like 80k€ left on my mortage and no other loans. Around +50k€ in savings mostly invested into index funds. I could be doing better but I can't complain. Recently started my own bussines so we'll see how that goes.
My only friend I keep hearing the type of complaints from that I read about on lemmy every day went to photography school but is an aspiring painter/artist now instead. For some reason money's tight and it's because of capitalism apparently. Go figure..
"Because I don't experience a thing personally (or just have head up rectum), everyone who does is a liar!" 🙄
Not even remotely accurate interpretation of what I said.
bought house at 25. Now at 30+
Here's your big trick. I used it too, the whole "buy a house when the market was affordable" method is nice, but to replicate when you were spent the last housing crash learning to write instead of earning money..
Son what you need in life is a hoot'n toot'n don't mind shoot'n attitude
This is best comic seen in a long time.
I’ll take that high honor, thanks 😊
It’s about five years old, and the artist seems to have stopped making new ones but they have a bunch of others which made me lol
Only three jobs?
Reminds me of this classic
that's us: the doomers
👉👉 WE'RE THE WIGGLES! 👉👉
Wholly indentured generation grinding low exploitative salaries?
These backronyms sure are getting out of hand.
Moral of the story: become a criminal.