Title: How does debt affect people?
Headings: How does debt affect people?
How does debt affect people?
Graduates living with debt
Debt ain’t free

Content: This finding tends to confirm the results of a major meta-analysis of evidence from the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The findings suggest that higher levels of debt while a student are significant predictors of stress and secondary negative health consequences. This study also points to other evidence of serious consequences more generally. Higher levels of debt have serious long-term consequences, including mental, neurotic or psychotic disorders, depression, suicide attempts (or suicide completion), problem drinking and drug dependence. Student debtors delay taking out a mortgage to own their own home. AAP
Secondly, large debt burdens influence choices related to work, careers and lives. Graduates with higher debts are less likely to be entrepreneurial and start new businesses. This is to be expected, as student debt repayments tend to constrain the capacity to borrow for other productive purposes. In the robust free-market economy of the US, such entrepreneurial timidity among the best and brightest is a source of real and valid concern for policy makers. Other recent research has shown that students with higher debts tend to pursue higher-paying careers, not pursuing “public interest” jobs in areas like teaching and community services.