Industry News

Recently, the MissionSquare Research Institute released information related to its report, The Ripple Effect of Student Debt: Shaping Careers, Financial Choices, and Well-Being in Public and Private Sectors. The Institute researched how student debt of U.S. public and private sector employees affects various personal financial and employment decisions. 

The highlights include:

• Career advancement – In the public sector, 31% of female workers and 31% of male workers with student loan debt consider it to be a barrier to their career advancement. In the private sector, 28% of females and 43% of males report limited career advancement due to their student loan debt.
• Work morale – In the public sector, 23% of employees reported more negative work morale among those with student loan debt as compared to 18% of employees without student loan debt.
• Professional development – Employees with student loan debt are more likely to follow their professional development goals especially pursuing new skills, managerial roles, advanced education or certifications, and increased responsibility.
• Investment approach – Among both public and private sector employees, most do not invest and those that do make investments are more likely to choose short-term investment options.
• Financial planning horizons – Typically, employees with student debt have shorter financial planning horizons than those without such debt.
• Perception of retirement savings adequacy – In both public and private sectors, employees with student debt are more likely to consider their retirement savings as being inadequate.

The report is available here.