• Americans owe about $1.75 trillion in student loans, according to Federal Reserve data.
• According to a consumer debt study by Experian, millennials owe an average of $38,877 in student loan debt.
• More than a third of American millennials say student loan debt keeps them from owning homes.

According to a new survey by Legal & General, a UK-based financial services company, millennials feel excluded from buying a home due to their outstanding student debt.

The company surveyed 875 US-based millennials who aren’t homeowners and found that about a third — 36% — think student loan debt is a big hurdle in their quest to save for a down payment.

The result is in line with another June 2021 survey by the National Association of Realtors, which shows that 35% of millennials surveyed said debt had impacted their decision or ability to buy a home.

Americans owe about $1.75 trillion in student loans, according to Federal Reserve data. Student loan debt in the United States averaged about $28,400 in 2020, according to data from CollegeBoard, but millennials average even more — about $38,877 — according to an Experian debt study. consumers.

“Millennials were the first generation to have their backs against the wall with this unfortunate choice between massive debt or no education,” the survey says.

The United States is home to 72 million millennials born between 1981 and 1996, according to the Pew Research Center. Nearly half say they still feel hampered by the Great Recession, which unfolded when many of them were college graduates.

About 23% of American millennials surveyed by Legal & General felt “strongly affected” by student loan debt. While 45% of respondents said saving for a down payment was their top priority, 26% said they would pay off their student loans first.

The impact of student debt means those without access to financial assistance from their families are at a disadvantage in accumulating wealth through property, according to the report.

“While the trope of self-made Americans enrolling in college is as iconic as the Mustang of 1966, at some point when millennials were coming of age – some mark it at the turn of the new millennium – this part of the American Dream has gotten a lot harder,” he added.