Student-Loan Debt Is Strangling Gen X

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gen X is barreling toward retirement with an excruciating student-loan burden. The generation that came of age in the ’80s and ’90s is now also the generation with the most student debt per borrower. WSJ’s Oyin Adedoyin explains how federal policies around student debt left Gen X with such a big burden. And one Gen Xer talks about the impact student debt has had on his life. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: - For Millions of Student-Loan Borrowers It's Time to Pay - Biden’s New Plan to Cancel Student Debt Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Generation X, the generation that came of age in the era of hair metal,
0:10.4	and the rise of rap music.
0:15.2	They grew up on MTV.
0:17.2	I want my MTV!
0:19.4	Shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And movies like reality bites. What is your glitch? Huh? My glitch? These days, Gen X is solidly middle-aged, and they're facing a pretty big financial glitch. they're now the generation with the most student debt per borrower.
0:41.7	Yep, even more than millennials.
0:45.2	How much student debt do you have today?
0:48.7	I checked about a week ago. I had about $ 306,000 in student debt.
0:55.7	That's Rick Bettenker.
0:57.7	He's 55 years old, solidly Gen X.
1:01.4	That generation of people is now between the ages of 45 and 60.
1:05.7	I live in New Jersey, and I'm currently chiropractor.
1:10.3	I've been doing that for about, ooh, 26 years now.
1:15.3	Rick is one of more than 6 million Gen Xers still carrying student debt.
1:20.0	And as they approach retirement, that debt can be suffocating.
1:27.7	Do you have any hope that you'll be able to pay it off?
1:31.1	No. No.
1:33.4	There's no way I'm going to pay it off.
1:35.0	Oh, man.
1:36.5	I will die with this loan.
1:41.7	Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.
1:45.9	I'm Jessica Mendoza.
	...

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