Nau Michael, Dwyer Rachel E, Hodson Randy
Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, United States.
Res Soc Stratif Mobil. 2015 Dec;42:114-122. doi: 10.1016/j.rssm.2015.05.003. Epub 2015 Jun 1.
This article explores the role of personal debt in the transition to parenthood. We analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1997 cohort and find that for the generation coming of age in the 2000s, student loans delay fertility for women, particularly at very high levels of debt. Home mortgages and credit card debt, in contrast, appear to be precursors to parenthood. These results indicate that different forms of debt have different implications for early adulthood transitions: whereas consumer loans or home mortgages immediately increase access to consumption goods, there is often a significant delay between the accrual and realization of benefits for student loans. The double-edged nature of debt as both barrier and facilitator to life transitions highlights the importance of looking at debt both as a monetary issue and also as a carrier of social meanings.
本文探讨了个人债务在向为人父母转变过程中的作用。我们分析了来自全国青年纵向研究1997队列的数据，发现对于21世纪成年的这代人来说，学生贷款会推迟女性的生育，尤其是在债务水平非常高的情况下。相比之下，住房抵押贷款和信用卡债务似乎是为人父母的前奏。这些结果表明，不同形式的债务对成年早期的转变有不同的影响：虽然消费贷款或住房抵押贷款会立即增加获得消费品的机会，但学生贷款从累积到实现收益之间往往会有显著延迟。债务作为生活转变的障碍和促进因素的双重性质凸显了将债务既视为货币问题又视为社会意义载体的重要性。
