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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that mums should get some sort of concession for student loan repayments?

323 replies

bubbleymummy · 29/05/2009 10:19

I just got my student loan statement and yet another big whack of interest has gone on. I haven't been able to make any payments since I went on maternity leave 3 years ago because I only worked PT after ds. Now I have ds2 and who knows when I'll be back to ft work. dh on the other hand has paid back over half of his. It just seems a bit discrimatory to me...most women will have to take a salary drop at some stage to have a family and won't hit the threshold for repayments while the interest just piles on...shouldn't we get a bit of a break?

OP posts:
Quattrocento · 31/05/2009 18:20

I went back to work when the DCs were 4mths old. Needed to pay a few bills.

Think the real issue here is shortage of the folding stuff rather than the SLC's terms (which are eminently reasonable). We could all do with a bit more cash.

Is there any possibility you could go back to work? Earn a bit and repay the debts?

howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:20

VH- as usual we agree- having had to pay for both my DCs uni fees etc to an extent- neither are eligible for the full student loan, which means we have to make up the short fall by about £500(?) a year? My DDs loan does not even cover her accommodation for the year-let alone food and living expenses- or tuition fees. WE are paying all her living expenses, as we did for our son, so we will have funded uni for both of them for 7 years in total.
We don't mind in some ways, but in principle it is not right that in law they are classed as adults, but as far as studdentloans go they are classed as dependants whose parents are means tested.

I think it is entirely wrong that adults ( they are over 18!) have to rely on their parents to fund their HEd. and that the system is still means tested.

Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 18:21

I know Riven - v scary. It costs more now as well I think. DH's younger brother will owe about £20k for a 3 year course when he's done and he'll prob need to go on to do a masters to get the job he wants.

OP posts:
hercules1 · 31/05/2009 18:22

What about what your dh earns? You are assuming that it is about your wage not his? I too faced the same issues as you and so dh worked nights for a few years so we could both work. Couldnt afford not to with 2 kids as neither one of us earned enought at that time for one to stay at home. Again, why should I supplement you for deciding to work part time and not working it out as we did?

expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 18:24

So women will pay off their loan slower and it will therefore accrue more interest.

No, women who a) chose to have children at all b) chose to have them with someone who isn't a high enough earner to pay off their loans c) chose to train for a career that doesn't pay well d) chose to stay home to look after their children rather than return to FT work e) chose a lifestyle that makes paying off their student loan debt a top priority g) chose not to delay childbearing until after they've paid off their loans might pay their loans off more slowly.

That's not all women.

scottishmummy · 31/05/2009 18:25

working mum is the norm - during the last 25 years the number of working mums with children under 5 has doubled. Now 62% of married or co-habiting women bring up a toddler whilst working. Back in the 80?s it was only 31%.And 75% of women with children under 10 go out to work.

violethill · 31/05/2009 18:26

bubbley - it didn't work out financially for me to return to work while I had two at nursery plus one needing before and after school care. No siree!

Sometimes you have to look longer term. Those few years of watching about 90% of my earnings get handed straight over to nursery (no vouchers or whatever in those days) were bloody annoying financially but have enabled me to get where I am today so that I do feel the benefit of my earnings each month.

Maybe it's just unrealistic for you to expect, at this stage in your life, to be at home with two children. I don't know - only you and your partner can answer that. But I know that your situation is only the reality facing millions of people. We also planned our second child very carefully (would have liked one about two years earlier but waited for eldest to be almost at school to cut down nursery fees). We then cocked up by falling pg with number 3 out of the blue, but that's another story.....

sarah293 · 31/05/2009 18:27

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hercules1 · 31/05/2009 18:27

Yes, I've been through the whole handing over most of the wage to pay for childcare in order to get to the stage where I am in a much better place career wise compared to childcare costs.

LissyGlitter · 31/05/2009 18:28

But student loan isn't REAL debt! You only have to pay it back when you earn loads, so it might as well be just more tax. I'm not worried at all about paying back my student loan. Either I'll get a good enough job and pay it back, in which case I'll still be better off then if i didn't get a degree, or I'll not finish my degree and most probably never earn enough to have to pay it back. Either way I think it's bloody good that we get it!

It is rubbish that parents are means tested, especily if, like looking at my friends, how much money your parents has doesn't seem to impact on how much support they will give you. Friends with the full loan and grant are getting loads of support and friends which the lowest loan are getting no support.

Most students have to work anyway, it just affects how much you have to work and how desparate you are for the money.

Quattrocento · 31/05/2009 18:29

Me too

It strikes me that a lot of women (and this really is a gender issue) want to take time out after they have children and they respond accordingly to this emotional want. The trouble is that it does have financial consequences, both immediately and in the longer term.

howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:30

More generally- student loans are not good, but on the other hand, when the average mortgage now is so huge, a loan of even £20K or more is not that significant when they repayments are reasonably low. I know that interest is compound, but the figures I have seen seem to show that repayment once you are over the threshold is very small each month.

To put in another perspective- some people take out a bank loan for a car for £20K .

I think the crucial point here is- pay off what you can, before you have children.

I don't want to go down the route of contraception really here, but at the same time, there are more than anough ways not to get pregnant these days- even allowing for genuine accidents- so if anyone wants to keep on working they should be able to stay child-free for as long as they want, unless they are very careless or very unlucky.

scottishmummy · 31/05/2009 18:32

no fees in scotland,for scottish students. universities and colleges in Scotland will not charge tuition fees for full-time courses to those already living in Scotland. (For those not already living in Scotland a fixed rate fee of around £1,735 a year (£2,760 for medical courses) applies).

Scottish students studying in England, Wales or Northern Ireland will be liable to pay the variable tuition fee which, in 2007, was up to £3,070 a year.

howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:32

expat- I don't think you are right here- the other earner cannot pay off the partner's student loan as the loan is repaid when the ex-student earns enough- it is taken out of their salary directly as I understand- so having a rich parner will not solve the problem!

howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:34

don't get me strted on the Scottish situation- it is absolutely disgusting that the English ( and Welsh and Irish) subsidise the Scottish system. The Scots wanted devolution but they also want the tax from us on the other side of the border to keep them afloat- hardly fair is it?

Yurtgirl · 31/05/2009 18:35

What is annoying me about this atm is that when I took mine out the interest rate was low

It has now gone up a lot - what used to be a small increase each year is now much larger

Quattrocento · 31/05/2009 18:36

HTTM - according to this fascinating SLC website, "account holders may repay some or all of their balances voluntarily at any time. Such repayments are applied to the loan balance to reduce it."

So I think they can be repaid whenever.

expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 18:38

'I agree a bit Expat but if women wait until its all paid off they might be fucked in the fertility stakes. '

then don't take them at all, marry someone for money to pay them off, etc. etc.

it's a choice.

no one forces a person to go to university and take loans to pay for it.

howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:40

LG- "It is rubbish that parents are means tested"

err, no- that is incorrect- my DS is currently completing her forms for next year's loan and she asked if we still earned over the threshold-meaning that her loan will be 75% of the max. available- and someone (us) has to find the rest.

My DD works during the holidays but not during term time as she is simply too busy doing a science degree with a huge amount of lab work involved. Some degrees are much less demanding, but others are not and quite simply, I'd rather we were poor for a bit longer than expect her to work and possibly fail her course.

lockets · 31/05/2009 18:40

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expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 18:41

it's very commonplace in the US for people to work to put themselves through school and tuition itself + fees and books cost a bomb, even at state school.

it generally takes longer to complete teh degree, but it's one way to do it, even at the postgrad level.

no one puts a gun to your head and forces you to take out loans.

Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 18:41

expat - So only the rich should go to uni and when you do it should only be to find a rich husband to pay of your debts? nice

OP posts:
howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:44

LG- if I may say so, you sound very immature and irresponsible- are you still as student?

If you have a debt of £20K or so, you only have to earn £15K before you pay it back- not loads.

Also, if you feel that you might not finish your course and then not have to repay any of it, think about the poor hard working tax payer who has funded your uni course so far, with no benefit to you or society.

Quattrocento · 31/05/2009 18:44

That is NOT what Expat said. She was basically saying what we are all saying to a greater or lesser extent - your life, your choices.

howtotellmum · 31/05/2009 18:45

BG- if this is right, then why can your DH not help you repay the loan at any time? Have you got all the facts right?

according to this fascinating SLC website, "account holders may repay some or all of their balances voluntarily at any time. Such repayments are applied to the loan balance to reduce it."

So I think they can be repaid whenever.