Now that I'm a parent, I'm suddenly realizing what huge feminist issue student loans are.
My loans are around 130k, which means I'm HEAVILY incentivized to stay out of the workforce to keep them in deferment. I don't even know that I'd bring home an income working, between childcare costs and loan payments.
In principle this should be a both-genders problem, but of course it ends up amplifying the pressure on women to stay home.
And the issue is magnified in the nonprofit world, which is disproportionately populated by women and much lower-paying.
Many of us who built our careers at nonprofits got degrees with the assumption that we'd get our loans forgiven through the service program.
At nonprofit jobs I've had in the past, I would have brought home NEGATIVE income after loan payments and childcare.
Not only that, the service program requires solidly FULL TIME work for 10 years.
Which rules out a whole lot of flexible scheduling to accommodate parenting needs.
Gwen Snyder is uncivil
Cat West