It’s become a familiar story by now: many young people, after having completed their education, are unable to come into their own independence. Crushing student loan debt from inflated education costs combined with continuing challenges in the job market has been a good recipe for bad economic progress for many educated young Americans.
Purchasing vehicles, obtaining a mortgage, having a family, and many of the other marks of adulthood are either very difficult if not impossible for many to achieve in the current economic climate. Because of it, many graduates are all but forced to live at home and forgo striking it out on their own. According to a Pew Research Center poll from 2014, Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 are now more likely to be living with a parent than on their own or with a partner. This is the first time this has happened since 1880!
Laboring under crushing debt as a young person, as some of our readers may know, is demoralizing, especially when forms of significant debt other than student loans. Young people with serious medical conditions or who have children with serious medical conditions, for example, may end up with a great deal of medical debt on their shoulders. In desperation, many people end up paying bills off on a credit card, which can make things go from bad to worse as high interest rates hike their debt up quicker.
For young people in such situations, it is important not to let things continue to get worse and worse, but to address the situation and come up with a plan. There are a variety of options short of bankruptcy that may potentially be helpful. For those in the worst situations, though, filing for bankruptcy may be the most sensible way to deal with their debts. Young people who are hopeless about their financial situation can benefit from consulting an experienced bankruptcy attorney to have their case evaluated and to determine whether bankruptcy relief may be a wise move for them.
