Millennials are waiting longer before marrying and starting a family than baby boomers and generation X because they are faced with two economic realities:
Job Market Changes
A significant percentage of millennials make a living from contract work, which lends to the idea that Millennials LIKE job-hopping, but that isn’t necessarily true. Research conducted by Pew Research Center reported Millennials engage with more jobs over the course of a 2-year period than Generation X, but do not necessarily change employers. In other words, millennials can be just as loyal as Generation X and Boomers.
Student Debt
Millennials seem to value a post-secondary education above all else; possibly in response to the years their parents spent drilling home the message that “you must have a good education to get ahead.” The resulting debt load has put them behind and is possibly the largest contributing factor to motivate millennials to move back home after having attended some college or university.
The total amount of student loans owed to the government reached the legislated ceiling of 15 billion set by the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act 10 years ago in September of 2010. This figure only accounted for a portion of total student debt; it did not include provincial and personal loans, lines of credit, and education related credit card debt. In response, the government altered the definition of “student loan” to exclude over $1.5 billion in federal student loan debt and followed that with an amendment to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act again in order to increase the limit to $19 billion.
A 2018 Canadian University Survey Consortium survey of about 15,000 graduating students put the average debt – among the 50 per cent of students who finished with debt – at $27,929. New graduates with loans typically take about nine-and-a-half years to repay, according to the Ontario Student Assistance Program.
With that kind of debt load, it’s no wonder millennials are moving back in with their parents. They need extra help to launch.
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