ARTICLE
I know a typical American family, let's call them the Weables. It's a real family but I changed the names to protect the innocent, as they say on TV. The dad always worked two jobs for the good of his family. He didn't spend nights out drinking with his buddies or complaining about what a hard life he lived. He just worked and then he worked some more. Recently, he finally "retired," which means he's working two part-time jobs. Down to a lazy 30 hours a week. The mom also worked two jobs. Oh yeah, all that while she attended night school to earn a degree from Muhlenberg College to become a teacher. Surprise, surprise she pulled it off and today, she's a great teacher in a tough inner-city school. She originally taught in Catholic schools for the love of the profession (believe me, you don't teach in Catholic schools for the money) but, moved to a public school, where she more than doubled her salary. Today, they have paid off their well-kept row home in west Allentown. They have a couple of cars and take an occasional vacation. Mom is still teaching and working at her church during the summer, while dad is hammering out his two jobs. They're in the final stages of raising two great kids. Why are they still hammering it out every day? You see there's this new thing that's an anchor around good, hard-working millennials and their families these days. It's called serious COLLEGE DEBT. Not surprisingly, their oldest daughter graduated from a good school, with honors I might add. She too wants to buy a house and live the American dream like her parents, but the problem is she has $90,000 in college debt. Add insult to injury, her parents worked so hard she didn't qualify for much college aid. And because she comes from a middle class family, they weren't quite wealthy enough to have a large nest egg saved to pay for her school outright. So, they borrowed the money needed to get through school and earn that coveted degree. Sure, people have had college debt for decades, but today's numbers are different. College grads used to carry $5,000, maybe $10,000 in loans. Today, those loans have ballooned to $50,000 — maybe over $100,000. That's serious debt, and it's a killer. It's tough enough to start out with a combined income of maybe $100,000, minimum house costs of $150,000 and throw in college debt of $80,000. The American dream of owning a home becomes very tough with that kind of math. So, here's my point. There are millions of middle class families who work hard, play by the rules, expect nobody but themselves to make it all happen and are either too busy or too focused to complain or be angry. You know, your neighbor the policeman who risks his or her life but better be near-perfect or he/she will lose their job. Or the teacher, who today is expected to be a policeman, a parent and an educator all in one. She too better be close to perfect because little Johnny is rarely wrong, and if he's in trouble, it must be her fault. I salute all the really hard-working middle class people who love their country, whose kids in so many cases serve the country, and want nothing but to build a good life. Black, white, Latino, gay, straight, American-born or immigrant, they are all working hard to the achieve the goal of a better life. That better life has always been more accessible right here in America. Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. His column appears weekly on the Business Cycle. He can be reached at tonyi@lehighvalleychamber.org. Read the original articlc here.