One of the more alarming aspects of the financial crisis is
its potential effect on the next generation of American workers. If young people
can’t afford quality higher education, what will happen to the educated
workforce? A new survey
has found that more than a third of American parents have substantially
decreased their college savings or have stopped saving for college altogether.
According to the Boston Globe, parents’ expectations about
how to pay for college given these reduced investments breaks down like this: “55
percent of parents will be expecting their children to work part time while in
college, 44 percent plan to have their children live at home while commuting to
college, 37 percent will be encouraging their children to attend a less
expensive public school and 23 percent will ask their children to graduate in
fewer semesters.” Although these are all reasonable options, they sound like a recipe for some pretty stressed families.
Also, 35 percent of parents now expect to retire later than
they had previously planned in order to pay for college. This is a scary plan, not only because working into one's 70s is hardly part of the American dream, but also because it means banking on two unknowns: that one's health and one's job will be both in stellar shape many years from now.
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Photo: mspmag.com
