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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:
violethill · 31/05/2009 18:46

LG - you seem to have no idea what you are talking about. The maintenance grant IS means tested

violethill · 31/05/2009 18:47

Sorry - went back in time about 25 years then. Maintenance loan I meant

Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 18:49

I'd like relatives like yours Lockets - I'd love someone to have given me £19k for my 21st birthday were you pre-98 when there were still grants to subsidise fees?

I did work through uni as well - the loan was to pay my fees and I had every intention (and still do) of paying it back. I wasn't thinking about children and childcare costs when I was 18 - that all seemed a loooong way off. It's only now when I look at the way it works that I realise how many women are actually disadvantaged by this. I realise that I am in a more fortunate position than some others because my husband does have a good salary and we can afford for me to not go back to work at the minute so I can raise our children. I don't understand why you don't seem to mind having to pay more interest determined by the amount of time off you have (women with children under 5 are more likely to work p/t)- would you not rather pay back a set amount?

OP posts:
wordgirl · 31/05/2009 18:49

I think LG is objecting to the fact that it is means tested when she says it's rubbish!

expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 18:50

'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'

quit trying to twist my words around so to justify your ridiculous stance.

plenty of folks on here, myself included, were not and are not rich and aren't moaning about the interest on loans we may have taken out to pay for the education.

you are.

that's teh difference.

life is a trade off in many ways.

you traded staying home with two children for FT work.

well, all actions have consequences.

c'est la vie!

FWIW, my father grew up in abject poverty.

he put himself through bachelor's programme and had a FT job and a wife and a child.

and was started when he was 27 because he couldn't afford it before that.

his company paid for his master's.

but he had to still work for them FT and still has said wife and another child.

hard, but doable. he really wanted those degrees and what they could do for the family.

that's life for you.

lockets · 31/05/2009 18:50

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Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 18:50

yes that's what I though wordgirl.

OP posts:
HappyMummyOfOne · 31/05/2009 18:51

OP, no-one forced you to go to uni. You made the choice as an adult and were aware of the debt you were taking on. If you then decided to have children rather than work full timw using your degree then that was also your choice.

Taxpayers should not subsidise your lifestyle choices.

lockets · 31/05/2009 18:53

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Quattrocento · 31/05/2009 18:53

BM

You could repay those loans tomorrow if you had the cash. You don't have the cash. So either earn it or stop complaining.

The lament of "ooh it's so unfair because I'm a woman" is just inaccurate. And tired.

expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 18:54

'wasn't thinking about children and childcare costs when I was 18 - that all seemed a loooong way off. '

Well, that happens.

I made a lot of poor decisions and judgements at 18. Don't see why the taxpayer should have to subsidise them.

'It's only now when I look at the way it works that I realise how many women are actually disadvantaged by this.'

They aren't.

They only are if perhaps they make choices like yours.

'I don't understand why you don't seem to mind having to pay more interest determined by the amount of time off you have (women with children under 5 are more likely to work p/t)- would you not rather pay back a set amount? '

Because you are not taking comprehending what many people have written over and over again.

More likely, more likely . . . actually, more and more women are chosing not to have children at all anymore, or are delaying it till their mid-late 30s or later, at which time they're probably paid off the loans.

juuule · 31/05/2009 18:56

Is it possible for someone else to pay off a student's loan?

expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 18:58

Apparently so, juule.

He/she could also use a chunk of money given as a gift, earned as a bonus or inherited to pay off the loan, too, it would seem.

lockets · 31/05/2009 19:02

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juuule · 31/05/2009 19:03

I'm just wondering why Bubbley's dh is just paying his loan off. Wouldn't it be better to pay something off both loans out of the family income?
Is the repayment deducted at source? If so and can't be split between the 2 loans then I think that if possible it might be worth setting some money aside to pay off Bubbley's loan if she's concerned about the increasing interest.
Overall that would reduce the family debt of 2 student loans.

juuule · 31/05/2009 19:03

x-posted lockets

RustyBear · 31/05/2009 19:05

Yes, someone else can pay off a student loan. They have to do it through the student though, as the Student Loan Company won't deal with anybody else - they wouldn't even tell my BIL whether they had received the cheque he sent them to pay off my nephew's loan.

Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 19:05

expat - do you really think my choices or my situation is so strange? maybe they aren't the same as yours but I very much doubt that I'm the only person in the UK who has had children before they've paid back their loan. Yes, my husband could pay back my loan but he's paying back his own and we only have one decent salary at the minute. I have every intention of paying my loan back - so I don't see how I'm taking tax payers money but I think it's unfair that I'm being penalised for taking longer about it because of my children - I can see that most of you disagree and think that it is perfectly fair so I guess we have different opinions. Oh well - that makes life interesting

OP posts:
Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 19:07

juule - a set amount is taken out of DH's so we would have to add extra to that - it would make sense to combine them when you got married tbh.

OP posts:
violethill · 31/05/2009 19:07

I don't think anyone is suggesting your choice is strange in fairness, bubbley. Just saying that it's strange to make the choice and then complain about the loan situation. There's a big difference there.

juuule · 31/05/2009 19:10

So you can combine them when you get married?
If that's the case, why haven't you done that? What are the drawbacks?

lockets · 31/05/2009 19:10

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flatcapandpearls · 31/05/2009 19:12

We recently lost a mortgage offer because of our outstanding loans. Dps is bigger than mine and more recent. When we bought our house 5 or so years ago it was not even considered I am sure. Earlier in the year we were given a mortgage offer, we could not sell our house and so it ran out. We then waited until our sale started going through and reapplied and te bank told us that they were going to take our student loans into account and the fact that I had missed 2 payments ( due to the fact that we have been paying rent and mortgage) and they changed the terms of our offer. It is not the end of the world and we are saving to increase our deposit and to allow the missed payments to be disapear of our credit file.

But I do think that people today need to think much more carefully about taking out student loans than I did in the mid to late 90s.

I dont regret taking mine out as my degree was a path out of poverty for me and dp. I dont expect other people to pay for my choices though.

Original poster
bubbleymummy · 31/05/2009 19:15

VH, even if I didn't have children I would think the system is unfair, after having experience of how it works. I just happen to be seeing it from a mum's perspective at the minute. Lower earners are having to pay more because it's taking them so long to pay off whereas high earners clear it faster and pay less. It would be fairer to charge a set amount so everyone pays back what they owe plus a fair rate of interest. The slc would prob be better off as well because they'd get more money back that way...

OP posts:
flatcapandpearls · 31/05/2009 19:20

But if you have a degree you do have some choice over what career you follow. Although I did not know how much I would earn as a teacher I did know it would not be a huge salary and I did know that if I wanted to earn more money I should choose to do something else. So I am knowingly choosing to pay my loan off over a longer period. Just as I know that if I have children I will be taking my loan over a longer period. Noone forces you to take a degree, pursue a certain career or have children