Title
Authorizing Philadelphia City Council's "Special Committee on Student Loan Debt" to
investigate the impact of student loan debt on older borrowers in the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, According to a January 2017 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entitled "Snapshot of older consumers and student loan debt," the number of people age 60 and older with student loan debt quadrupled over the last decade in the United States, increasing from about 700,000 individuals to 2.8 million; and
WHEREAS, At the same time, the average amount these older borrowers owed almost doubled from 2005 to 2015, increasing from $12,100 to $23,500. In 2015, older consumers owed an estimated $66.7 billion in student loans; and
WHEREAS, While most student loan borrowers are young adults between the ages of 18 and 39, people age 60 and older are the fastest growing age-segment of the student loan market, with the share of all student loan borrowers that are age 60 and older increasing from 2.7 percent in 2005 to 6.4 percent in 2015; and
WHEREAS, This trend is not just because borrowers are carrying more student loan debt later in life, but also because more and more parents and grandparents are now taking out loans to finance their children's and grandchildren's education; and
WHEREAS, The majority of older student loan borrowers have loans that were used to finance their children's or grandchildren's education, and they may have taken out these loans directly, or co-signed on a loan with the student as the primary borrower. In 2014, 73 percent of student loan borrowers age 60 and older reported that their student loan debt was owed for a child's and/or grandchild's education, whereas only 27 percent reported that their student loan debt was for their own or their spouse's education; and
WHEREAS, Unlike younger student loan borrowers, older borrowers also tend to have other types of debt in addition to their student loans. In 2013, 63 ...
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