Changing Profile of Student Borrowing Essay

Literature Review

Aaltonen, M., Oksanen i, A., & Kivivuori, J. (2016). “Debt problems and crime”. Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 54(2), 307-331.

In their article “Debt problems and crime”, Aaltonen, Oskanen, and Kivivuori investigate the consequences of debt problems among young adults that can correspond to deviant crimes. Understanding crime one must look at all sorts of variables that can associate why a young adult commits these crimes, and the reason behind a portion of these criminal acts could very much be a result of debt issues among the young adult population. The authors argue that one’s socio-economic status and debt go hand-and-hand which can influence the young adult populace to perform crimes. They analyze various studies that link unemployment and other general financial difficulties that acts as a mechanism for trouble and crime inducement.

Aaltonen, Oskanen, and Kivivuori’s (2016) work looks at defining how the culprit, a.k.a. debt, causes mischievous crimes among young adults. Through different studies as well as their own, they research the impact excessive debt has on these people and can be constituted to the increasingly available high-interest loans that leave young adults not properly thinking of their long-term financial position and making well-informed decisions. The authors try to justify that one’s burden of debt is a result of poor decisions financially, as well as in part due to a young adult's position within the socio-economic hierarchy. As a result, although some parts are fairly useful in justifying the relationship between debt and crime, their studies should look at the prolonged gathered debt among young adults rather than only looking short-term. This could help discover new ways on how debt problems can heavily impact one’s life throughout young adulthood to their later years. I will use this information and what could have been presented in this study to establish the reasoning of how crimes can be prevalent for those seeking to recover their debt position, one’s debt can leave them in isolation and create a negative mindset that is rather unhealthy for the individual.

Addo, Fenaba R., Jason N. Houle, and Sharon Sassler. (2019). 'The Changing Nature of the Association between Student Loan Debt and Marital Behavior in Young Adulthood.' Journal of Family and Economic Issues 40(1): 86-101.

In their article 'The Changing Nature of the Association between Student Loan Debt and Marital Behavior in Young Adulthood”, Addo, Houle, and Sassler investigate how young people are marrying later in life due to the enormous debt owed from student loans. The growth of these debts continues to rise, which leaves young adults to put off marriage for later in life and this associates the increased level of non-marital births and increased likelihood of cohabitation without marriage among couples. Student loan debt is ever-increasing, creating more problems along the life course and leading to adverse consequences.

Addo, Houle, and Sassler's (2019) article seeks to define the association of student loan debt that directly impacts young adult marriage behavior throughout their life. This study looked at the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) of 1979 and 1997 to compare the changes over the years from generation to generation. Addo, Houle, and Sassler argue that the NLSY of 1979 showed higher levels of marriages of young adults that attended post-secondary compared to the latter study of the NLSY 1997 where young adults waited till later in their years to marry. The authors demonstrate a clear understanding of the differences between prevalent years and the general differences in marital attitudes and behaviors but what is not used in their study is information that looks at an extended amount of years following students. In this case, students that delay marriage or do not marry at all can be good information if studies were made for extended periods. I will use Addo, Houle, and Sassler’s work to depict how debt is correlated to the prolonging of marriage among post-secondary students that are more so focused on completing their degree and focusing on future jobs than having the time to marry young.

Baker, A. M., Moschis, G. P., Rigdon, E. E., & Fatt, C. K. (2016). “Linking family structure to impulse‐control and obsessive–compulsive buying”. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 15(4), 291-302.

In their article “Linking family structure to impulse‐control and obsessive–compulsive buying”, Baker, Moschis, Rigdon, and Fatt engage in the foundation of compulsive buying for young adult consumers that could be the result of childhood family structure. Through different studies, it is thought that what happens during childhood can attach one to their spending habits in later years. The authors argue that through the life course paradigm, young adults are subjected to some compulsive buying tendencies that usually start in one’s teenage years. Through their study, they looked at 753 participants discovering reasons for their compulsive buying throughout their lives and what might have caused these certain aspirations.

Baker, Moschis, Rigdon, and Fatt’s (2016) work seeks to question what are the true causes of compulsive spending that can form debt among young adults. The linkage of one’s childhood within their family structure was in constant question to figure out whether or not this was a primal factor for causing this spending. The life course perspective helped the authors establish the basis of research to figure out the point in time at which this compulsive spending happens. The authors argue that stress and family events throughout one’s life may not directly result in compulsive spending, but rather influences the two types of impulse control and obsessive-compulsive buying, and the investigation of both in further research can possibly be proven beneficial. Although the authors find a plot of what causes these habits, they provide a list of future research opportunities to add to their research to find ways to distinguish and understand some young adults' compulsive buying. It is evident that testing through different socio-economic classes, races, genders, etc., as well as prolonged studies of individuals, can gather the necessary information. I will use the author's work to support my research question of how compulsive buying can lead to greater debt accumulation and that further research on how different types of debt arises for young adults.

Beban, Alice and Nicolette Trueman. (2018). 'Student Workers: The Unequal Load of Paid and Unpaid Work in the Neoliberal University.' New Zealand Sociology 33(2):99-131

In their article 'Student Workers: The Unequal Load of Paid and Unpaid Work in the Neoliberal University”, Beban and Trueman explore the high debt incurred by students in New Zealand discovering the correlation between the financial burden and the impact it has on student life. The authors look at their findings of student life consisting of paid work and extracurricular activities resulting in high-stress levels and daily inequalities that leave students in vulnerable situations throughout their university/college years and post-school years. With the greater inflation in today’s economy, prices continue to surge and leave young adults and their families to face the scary monster also known as school loan debt.

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Beban and Trueman’s (2018) article seeks to express the disadvantages of student loans leaving post-secondary students and graduates in a rather uncomfortable situation. Many students are compelled to get a part-time job during post-secondary to help with paying off their loans, especially low-income students spanning from lower social classes are susceptible to more anxiety than their counterparts such as students from middle-class families. Beban and Trueman argue that from looking at the 131 students studied, those from higher socio-economic classes experience less stress, better academic performance, and have the “balance” needed to cope with student life and regular activities. The authors follow up with findings that women and minorities are more likely to take a longer time to pay off student loans, increased financial debt in the future, and have fewer savings. With each individual different conditions apply, which means finding a solution is necessary to cope with academic and financial extremities. I will use Beban and Trueman’s work to show how the stress of academic achievement and the financial crises of student loans enlarges the gap between the classes. As well, as how paid work and extracurriculars interfere with social interactions among students that could possibly support one’s way of student life alleviating some post-secondary stressors.

Houle, J. N. (2014). “Disparities in Debt: Parents' socioeconomic resources and young adult student loan debt”. Sociology of Education, 87(1), 53-69.

In his article “Disparities in Debt: Parents' socioeconomic resources and young adult student loan debt”, Houle engages in the conversation of young adult student loan debts and how their socioeconomic status correlate to one another. Obtaining a college education comes at a very large sum and for most young adults the only way to afford it is through student loan opportunities. The author argues that low-SES, as well as middle-income young adults, fear far greater consequences such as bankruptcy and trouble paying back loans rather than upper-class individuals. Houle analyses different studies finding that the debt incurred by young adults, it affects them emotionally and physically, adding that these lower and middle-class young adults are less likely to achieve greater incomes in the future due to debt conditions along the life course.

Houle’s (2014) work tests the impact of a parent's income as well as education influences the amount of debt for young adults. Student debt has been found to cause constant problems throughout young adulthood and sometimes into the much later years. Through this study, new evidence comes into play to display debt and its creditors. Houle argues that African Americans are more prone to greater debt than white people, step-families and single-parent households have a significant risk of student loan debt and find that middle-income students can obtain more debt than lower-class individuals. Houle demonstrates a clear line between one’s socioeconomic status and the ability to repay the student loans young adults have obtained. With this, it depicts how the education and economic system coexist to screw over these low and middle-SES young adults with no current solution to this problem. I will use Houle’s work to demonstrate the extreme problem facing young adults and how socio-economic statuses mark whether or not a young adult is likely to fall into debt and how they compare to their peers with a higher SES.

Oksanen, Atte, Mikko Aaltonen and Kati Rantala. (2016). 'Debt Problems and Life Transitions: A Register-Based Panel Study of Finnish Young People.' Journal of Youth Studies 19(9):1184-1203.

In their article 'Debt Problems and Life Transitions: A Register-Based Panel Study of Finnish Young People”, Oksanen, Aaltonen, and Rantala examine the debt problems during adulthood that young adults gather throughout their early years. They see that not many studies regard the economy of debt problems for young adults and see this issue as becoming a growing problem among the younger generation. The authors argue that through the life-course different decisions such as leaving home at an early age or becoming a parent can greatly influence debt accumulation. They propose that through adulthood the decisions made by the person can decide whether or not the individual will gather debt.

Oskanen, Aaltonen, and Rantala’s (2016) work seeks to discover the architecture of how debt is obtained and in what instances young adults continue to gather this debt. Different decisions in one’s life define what will happen to them in the near or later future. On this basis, debt is subjected to the actions of the young adult and distinguishes whether or not they will fall into debt. The authors argue that young adults obtaining a job can result in less debt for the future but on the contrary, moving out of one’s parents' or relatives' house at an early age puts beyond the border of debt accumulation. The authors clearly show that economic behavior at an early age will rise or lower debt, and they specify that the research participants studied found fairly frequent debt problems for those that obtained post-secondary education, moved out young, or had a child. I will use Oskanen, Aaltonen, and Rantala’s work to show how debt problems are frequent among young adults that attend school and choose decisions in their lives that ultimately affect their future economic resources. With this information I can display that debt problems are not just the result of student loan debt but also life course decisions have economic impacts.

Walsemann, Katrina M., Gilbert C. Gee, and Danielle Gentile. (2015). 'Sick of our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Mental Health of Young Adults in the United States.' Social Science & Medicine 124:85-93

In their article 'Sick of our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Mental Health of Young Adults in the United States”, Walsemann, Gee, and Gentile examine how a grand majority of US students have loan debt that can be associated with fairly poor psychological functioning throughout young adulthood. Those seeking higher education, for the most part, need a student loan to obtain this education but the prerequisites of completing this process have a large toll. The absurd amount of incurred debt by students leaves a presence of psychosocial stress leading to depression, anxiety, and in extreme cases suicide. The connection between one’s socioeconomic status and mental health can correlate to deeper subjective issues.

Walsemann, Gee, and Gentile’s (2015) article seek to explain the incurred debt of current and past students that can be correlated to one’s socioeconomic position and poor psychological functioning. Looking at the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the authors gathered information to compare it to their sample and conclude findings that lower socio-economic students and their families constituted poor psychosocial functioning processes. Walsemann, Gee, and Gentile argue that the growing burden of student loans for young adults can justify why many current and past students face mental health problems that displace them into lower socio-economic standing. The authors clearly indicate from their data that it presently shows a growing concern for student repayment and high stress, which can call for change in post-secondary education. I will indeed use their work to showcase how obtained debt directly influences how one is presented in society. If these young adults are from lower-class families they are more prone to these bad instances yet if they are wealthy they revolt against these psychosocial problems. For these reasons, it allows me to prove that higher in the hierarchy of socio-economic classes more problems are evident than the middle and upper classes.