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The upper/middle classes hold more debt overall, but it's debt that's much easier to shed - mortgages. You can just walk away from that mortgage at any time. Th

• googlryas 4y ago
  The middle class is the largest holder of student loan debt. Poor people either don't go to college, or go to a cheap community college, or get scholarships/financial aid. Very rich families just pay for college without taking out student loans. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/10/09/who-owes-the-most-in-student-loans-new-data-from-the-fed/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/10/09/who-owes-... > The highest-income 40 percent of households (those with incomes above $74,000) owe almost 60 percent of the outstanding education debt and make almost three-quarters of the payments. The lowest-income 40 percent of households hold just under 20 percent of the outstanding debt and make only 10 percent of the payments. Also, medical and credit card debt can generally be discharged in bankruptcy. Student loan debt can't, but consider this from the same link: > What may be more surprising, however, is the difference in payment burdens. A growing share of borrowers participate in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which do not require any payments from those whose incomes are too low and limit payments to an affordable share of income for others. And some borrowers are in forbearance or deferment because of financial hardships. As a result, out-of-pocket loan payments are concentrated among high-income households; few low-income households enrolled in IDR are required to make payments.