Because of ongoing legal challenges to President Joe Biden’s loan relief plan, Sahara Artiga, one of 16 million student loan borrowers who was authorized for loan forgiveness but has not yet gotten assistance, spends her days juggling her job as a benefits specialist and being a mother to a 2-year-old child.
The 30-year-old Artiga initially borrowed $29,000 in student loans to help pay for her Massachusetts College of Art and Design studies.
The Challenges Faced by Working Mothers
2014 marked the year she graduated and began making loan payments.
But despite making regular monthly loan payments (even during the payment delay), she still owes over $27,000.
She claims that this debt is limiting her ability to pursue a job.
Actually, I can’t afford daycare. Daycares close by cost $3,600 a month, which is more than my rent in Washington, D.C. Time quotes Artiga.
While I am essentially continuing my work from home career so that I can care for my child at the same time, it is not simple.
Women among the millions of borrowers anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court’s impending ruling on the constitutionality of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program are particularly interested in the outcome.
Read more: Student Loan Payment Delinquency And Credit Score
A Growing Financial Crisis
According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), women are responsible for about two thirds of the nation’s student loan debt, accounting for $929 billion of the $1.54 trillion total.
Gloria L. Blackwell, CEO of AAUW, tells TIME that in many situations, women are taking on a considerable financial burden to simply accomplish what males can do without even needing a degree.
According to the Pew Research Center, even though women make up more than half of the workforce with college degrees, they still encounter difficulties repaying their debts because of the gender wage disparity, a lack of generational wealth, and gender-specific expectations.
Read more: Major Supreme Court Ruling Offers Hope For Student Loan Forgiveness