Class Diary: Student Loan Debt

In the article "We are the Median: Burdened by Student Loan Debt" on MSNBC.com, the story of Megan and Sam Moss is told. This couple recently had a daughter, and are "living" on a combined salary of $50,000 a year. They have $110,000 in student loan debt, and wish to have another child, but know they will not be able to afford college for two children in the future. They talk about how the rising cost of living affects them as their wages are not increasing; a mirror image of the issues we learned in class. They have the median American salary, but still worry what they are going to do if their cars break down or if one of them becomes sick or unemployed. They pay an outrageous $550 a month towards student loan debt and $800 a month towards daycare; something people in other countries never have to worry about.

Luckily, Megan's grandfather was able to pay for her college education, something most middle, working, and lower class people will never be able to do. They also have debt from when Megan was on maternity leave for three months. Something is seriously wrong with our country when families receive no support for having a child. Poverty is a vicious cycle, and is a vicious cycle even for those who are "making it" in our country. There should be no reason why we pay as much as we do to better our minds and families. It is such a shame that in 2011 so many Americans are being forced to live in poor standards and yet they are deemed "well off".

Class Diary: Matrimony Suffers Slump

In the article "Where is Mr. or Mrs. Right? Matrimony Suffers Slump, Report Shows" on MSNBC.com, it is clear that marriage in the United States is taking a dive. In 1960, 72 percent of the population 18 and over were married, today it has dropped 21 percent to 51 percent of the population being married. The reasons to this are quite clear: a rise in variety of households and an economic decline. Today, it is becoming increasingly popular to have a family outside of the nuclear values. Marriage no longer holds the stigma it once did, especially with the rise of women in the workforce. People are accepting of single parenting or do not feel rushed t0 get married. LGBTQ couples still cannot marry in most states, yet account for a large percentage of couples. In addition, couples tend to get married when they are financially stable, and with the economy the way it is now, few can afford the wedding they always imagined and therefore, put it off for better times. People have different priorities now, why would one spend $5,000 towards their wedding when their car desperately needs to be fixed and the bills are behind.

"Strong marriages and strong families flourish in a healthy economic and community context. Those contexts have weakened particularly in working class and poor communities in the last 30-40 years," Wilcox said. "People are less likely to be engaged in stable fulltime work, their church community, the Jaycees." With the rise in the working and lower class, people are more stressed than ever and therefore, do not want to start a family in the tough times since they know it will add more stress to the family. The last thing a couple wants to worry about is whether they will be able to put a meal on the table for their children. If the economy was not as bad as it is, the most of our worries would be that we may have forgotten to iron our children's clothes. What a nice life that would be.