Oh, I do think about marriage: The familial transition to adulthood among those with student debt

• In Event: 30269 - Inequality in the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract

In this paper we use the results of a longitudinal mixed methods study to discuss romantic relationships, childbearing, connections to student debt, and related impacts on the adult lives of research participants. Some of those we interviewed were already partnered when we first met them in 2016 as they were approaching college graduation. We conducted follow-up interviews almost annually through 2024 with 15 of our original 24 participants. Some participants got engaged, some cohabited with new partners, some married. Some had children. Some relationships fell apart. Student debt haunts these family formation and dissolution decisions. Many felt reluctant to partner with those with a lot of debt and hesitated to partner without achieving their own financial stability. Yet many proceeded anyway. Many partnered without knowing how much debt their partners had, and many kept separate, rather than joint, bank accounts, avoiding discussion of financial matters. Our survey data in this paper include students’ and graduates’ accounts of how they believed their debt should, would, and did affect their family formation and relationship decisions. Our findings illustrate how social norms and beliefs about debt, relationships, and families can lead to negative effects on family formation, even when college graduates have higher ultimate earnings than those who did not attend or graduate college. Meanwhile, for those who did partner and marry, we found that it eased their transition to adulthood, making it both a marker of adulthood and a mechanism by which to reach a stable and secure adulthood.

Authors

• Joanie Maya Mazelis, Rutgers University-Camden

• Arielle Kuperberg, University of Maryland, Baltimore County