On average Canadians are graduating university with around 26,000 in student loan debt. Statistics Canada states 46 percent of Canadians have spent more then their annual income when it comes to tax time.
Student in school can have a tough time managing debt. For me I have a hard time finding enough hours in the day to get in all I need to. Between work and school I barley get out or enough time to enjoy life anymore, and It seems my debt keeps growing, yet it is meant to get better when I graduate is it not? However I have found a lot of grads do not work in the field they have their degree in. They are now working for a slightly higher wage, but working twice as hard as they were when they were in school just to pay off the debt accumulated, while still accumulating more debt. This seems to leave little time for much else as life keeps moving on with its accompanied costs.
Us in the middle class have a hard time breaking free. I do not qualify for student loans as my parents make too much money, So I have my credit card and line of credit to pay for things. It is almost more of a constraint, it dose not allow for me to get ahead. However since I live at home with my parents I am a dependent so I cannot claim support to get ahead to be able to afford much more. Interesting cycle.
We are a slave to debt and however much we are free we still seem to be constrained by it. Interesting thoughts, do any of you have thoughts on student debt and debt in general and managing it? How has it affected you?
Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/personalfinance/debt.html
http://calgary.openfile.ca/node/6416
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_debt
