people are experiencing what life is like without student loans (while on C19 forebearance)

[Demovictory9]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/07/less-than-11percent-of-people-with-federal-student-loans-are-paying-during-covid-19-.html

Less than 11% of people with federal student loans are repaying them during the pandemic, according to data analyzed by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
That means that 4.6 million of 42 million borrowers are continuing to pay down their debt.
Here’s what life is like without the monthly payments.

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The government’s so-called coronavirus forbearance on federal student loans has freed up money for basic essentials for many borrowers, many of whom have seen their income dry up due to the public health crisis. It’s also given people a window into what life would be like without education debt.

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Before the pandemic, 22-year-old Cecilia Sena of New York had to work three jobs just to cover her rent, groceries and monthly $250 student loan bill. She owes around $25,000 in education debt.

Her full-time position as a research assistant at Columbia University, from which she graduated in 2019, pays just around $38,000 a year, so she babysat on weeknights and taught Hebrew school on the weekends.

“I was out all the time,” Sena said. “It was exhausting. There just wasn’t time for myself.”

As student debt has ballooned, wages have sputtered. Starting salaries for new college graduates have grown less than 1% over the past two years, remaining at around $50,000.

Now that Sena can take a break from her monthly student loan bill, she doesn’t have to work as much and is able to spend more time at home.

When she was juggling multiple jobs, she rarely cooked and relied on microwavable meals and takeout. Now she cooks every day. Some of her favorite meals? Steamed sweet potatoes with tahini butter, chickpea salad